


You Don't Choose Family

by CatiiaSofiia, MissChrisDaae



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Meet-Cute, Single mom Padmé, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-03
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-10-21 06:46:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 44,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17637806
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CatiiaSofiia/pseuds/CatiiaSofiia, https://archiveofourown.org/users/MissChrisDaae/pseuds/MissChrisDaae
Summary: Anakin Skywalker's world is turned upside down when he gets an unexpected visit from Padmé Amidala, a Congresswoman from across the country. She's smart, she's beautiful...And she's the mother of his biological children, thanks to a fertility clinic donation he made in college.And though she says he doesn't have to be a part of their lives any more than he wants to be, Anakin finds he can't get the twins off his mind... or their mother.





	1. Chapter 1

“What are your plans for tonight, big brother?” Ahsoka jumped onto his desk, startling Anakin, making him give her a sour look. Why had he agreed to let her  _help_ around his office again? “Hot date?”

“Yes, with my laptop,” he quipped as he restarted his coding.

“Ew.”

“Oh, stop being a perv, Snips, I need to finish this coding for our new client. I can’t disappoint a client that is basically paying all that is left of my student loans,” Anakin rolled his eyes before winking. “What about you?”

“Mom guilt tripped me into helping her organize the attic.”

“Good luck with the spiders!”

“Don’t even joke, it’s going to be a night of browsing through photo albums,” at her brother’s smirk, Ahsoka raised one eyebrow. “I will gather all of your butt naked baby pics and post them on Instagram.”

“You wouldn’t!” He said terrified.

“Mock my luck one more time, Skyguy, and you’ll see what is the next thing I post to delight my followers,” she jumped down from the desk and smiled. “I’m going to finish putting together the new website. What would you do without me?” Without waiting for an answer, she sauntered off and Anakin laughed and decided he would stretch his legs for a bit.

In the break room, he greeted his three faithful coders who were all enjoying a chocolate cake Ahsoka had baked and brought that day. She was the delight of his team and honestly, she loved being the center of attention. He poured a cup of coffee and leaned back against the counter, watching the TV.

“A Congresswoman Massachusetts is making our political party fangirl,” Kitster quipped through a mouthful of cake.

Anakin wasn’t surprised she attracted so much attention. Looking at the TV, he saw a petite brunette giving a speech. He didn’t know about what, it was on mute, but he could see in her doe eyes a fierceness that not many women had. The male politicians of California would surely be swooning at her presence. And maybe trying to score a date. He would be too if he had the pleasure of meeting her.

“She’s your type,” Ashoka quipped, appearing out of thin air next to him, as she took a cup of coffee for herself. “Petite, brunette, brown eyes… too bad she’s out of your league, bro.”

“For the better, you know I hate politicians,” Anakin shrugged and finished his coffee. “We probably wouldn’t have anything in common anyway.”

* * *

Trying to balance a bag of groceries in his arm and opening the door to his apartment, always made Anakin look like he was juggling knives. It only got worse when he had the smart decision of holding his phone with his mouth - really, who does that? - and it started to vibrate. It eventually fell and he winced as it hit the floor. It kept _ringing_ so it was a good sign. Or maybe it was just annoying him and then once he would be ready to answer it, he would be crying at the broken screen. Stupid, sensitive phones.

Finally, the keys seemed to work and he entered the apartment, shoving the groceries in the kitchen counter and then running back to pick up the phone that was, thankfully, intact. Closing the door, and not juggling food anymore, he set the laptop bag on the couch and laid his jacket in the armchair by its side. He started the coffee machine knowing he would probably pull an all-nighter to finish his coding. Anakin could have stayed in his office, but home was home and he was just going to put some Netflix show in the background, dress down to a pair of pajama pants and MIT shirt and eat cookies and drink coffee the rest of the night.

His life was _exciting,_ wasn’t it?

The phone rang again. Sighing, he picked it up without looking at the caller ID. “Hello?”

“Hey, you never called me back to say how things went with Jabitha!” Amee’s chipper voice had a bit of an edge to it and Anakin cringed, remembering why he had been ignoring Amee’s calls throughout the day. “She was _raving_ about you.”

“Hi, Amee. I’m good, and you?” He provoked. “My job is going well, thank you, and how’s yours?” He rolled his eyes. “Listen, Jabitha is nice but…”

“Oh, come on, what was wrong with her?” Amee whined. “You keep going on about wanting to meet someone, and every time we try to set you up, you find some reason not to see the girl again!”

“All she can do is talk about her cats!”

“Seriously? Anakin, you’re insanely picky, you know that, right?”

“She has me seeing all the pictures of her cats in sweaters and I’m picky? Fine, Amee, maybe next time don’t set me up with the cat lover, knitting freak.”

“Okay, okay, jeez! I thought you liked animals!” Amee sighed. “Look, you’re a great guy, you deserve to have a great relationship. We’re just trying to help.”

“I like dogs,” he mumbled defensively. “I know you are, but honestly, maybe I just need to let it happen, you know? Focus a bit more on my work, gather more clients, that sort of thing.”

“You’ve been working since high school.”

“Not all of us can be born with rich parents.” It was a cheap move, but Amee, so used to have him deflect her attempts at matchmaking, ignored it.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t mean you’re not allowed to enjoy life!”

“I’ll enjoy life when I’m a self-made millionaire before I turn thirty. You watch me.”

“You’ve been on the Thirty under Thirty list for the last three years in a row!”

Anakin looks to the other side of the wall where his mother had proudly framed the magazine articles and cover - last year - where he showed up. “Yes, I know. But I am not making the one hundred thousand dollars an hour I wanted. I’m missing thirty,” he chuckled. “Amee, look, I love you and I love that you are desperately trying to get me to settle down but… it’s not the time yet.”

“It’s not settling down, it’s _dating._ ”

“I don’t have time for dating,” he admitted. “My last date, without counting Jabitha, lasted two hours. I couldn’t end it properly because Kitster and the guys were completely out of their minds with a hacker attack. This is destiny, Amee, I’m not meant for dating.”

“That’s a load of bull, and I cannot wait until you’re proved wrong.”

“Can I go back to my next great invention?”

“Oh, alright,” she sighed. “Bye.”

“Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” he chuckled as he hung up.

* * *

“Heeeeeeey, Skyguy?” Ahsoka stuck her head in his office. “You got a second?”

“No,” he replied flatly as he tweaked with his code. It was _so_ close to being perfect, he couldn’t afford distractions. “Come back later, Snips.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes. Now, shoo!”

“Okay, so what should I tell Representative Amidala?”

“Wait, what?” He froze and turned to his younger sister dumbstruck. “Who?”

“Padmé Amidala? The Massachusetts Congresswoman? She’s in our waiting room, asking to see you.”

“Why?” Anakin widened his eyes. “What does she want?”

“To talk to you.”

“About?” Her brother insisted, slightly intimidated.

“I don’t know, she won’t say!”

He groaned as he stood up and locked his laptop. “Do I at least look presentable?”

“Hang on.” She licked her fingers and pushed his hair out of the way. “There we go.”

“Ew, Snips, what the hell?” Anakin swatted her hands away and readjusted his hair with his own hands. “Just… be around. I might scream for help or something,” he mumbled as he left his office and walked down the hall to the waiting room, observing the Congresswoman to the glass windows. He entered the room, carefully closing the door behind him. “Congresswoman,” he greeted politely. _Wow, she’s prettier than on TV._ He bit his lip. Now was not the moment for that.

“Mr. Skywalker.” She smiled graciously, extending a hand to shake. “I’m sorry, I hope I’m not interrupting. When I called your office earlier, they said you didn’t have any meetings.”

 _This was why he needed a personal assistant._ “I was just finishing some work,” he said with a smile, accepting her hand. “How can I be of service?”

“Is there anywhere here that’s a bit more private?” she asked, almost seeming nervous as they shook hands. “It’s a bit of a delicate matter.”

Anakin frowned but nodded. “Yes, my office. Please, follow me,” he said, turning on his heel and heading out of the waiting room, shooting a dark look at all the employees staring. Apparently, they were not taught discretion at home.

Padmé’s black high heels clicked as she walked alongside him, somehow keeping pace despite how much shorter than him she was. He opened the door to his office. “Please, after you.”

“Thank you.” She took off the bright red coat she was wearing, revealing a simple black dress that hugged her body and a silver necklace. Discreetly, he studied her as she sat down, crossing her legs at the ankle. She was effortlessly elegant and there was something about the way she carried herself, almost regal. A beautiful woman with a powerful position. What could she want from him and why was he inclined to give her whatever she asked for?

He took his seat behind his desk and smiled. “Well, Congresswoman, you left me very curious as to why you are visiting me.”

She pursed her lips and twisted her fingers around each other, looking at the photos on his walls. “These are your family members?” she asked, pointing at them.

 _Uh, what?_ “Y-Yes… hmm… my mom, my sister and a few of my best friends that are just like family. Actually, my sister is the girl that received you, Ahsoka.”

“I see. So, no partners? No children?” Her finger twisting got faster.

“Partners? As much as my best friend would like to, no, no partners. Also, no children. I mean… my baby is this company, that is basically a full fledged teenager, but, you know, geek talk…” he shrugged. “Have you come to meet me just to know my genealogical tree… Congresswoman?”

She bit her lip. “I have children. Twins. It was a big part of my first campaign actually, I was pregnant with them at the time. A lot of my opponents tried to take issue with it, because I wasn’t… I’m not married.”

The more she talked, the more lost he became. “Hmm… good for you?” He probably sounded like an idiot.

“Thank you.” She blushed a little. “Well, the, um, the thing is, I used a fertility clinic.”

“They’re popular nowadays.” Why did he suddenly feel like he was in debate class and again, had no clue of the discussion happening? He hated debate. “...so?”

“So, it’s made things a little complicated for me since my twins told me that what they wanted for their birthday was to know their father—”

“You want my help to find him, is that it? Because, I’m really good with tech, and maybe I could do it, but doesn’t that go against some sort of rule from fertility clinics?”

“It does, but I don’t need help finding him.” She reached into her purse, producing a blue folder and opened it. “See for yourself.”

Anakin accepted the folder and as he opened it, his blood ran cold as memories came back to him like a ton of bricks. His eyes widened and he considerably paled as he remembered where he had gotten the money to fund his first solo project, the one that launched his name into the spotlight. He had donated some of his… well, _boys_ … to a fertility clinic in Boston, during his senior year at MIT. Cash had been tight and his job was not paying him enough and it had been a colleague to suggest it since, apparently, it was done quite often. He had completely forgotten about it. Until this very moment. Staring at the file he’d filled out and the baby picture he provided to give prospective parents an idea.

“I, um… I found you through Google Image Search,” she admitted. “Your mother had the same photo on her Facebook timeline. Set to public. So, legally speaking, I didn’t do anything wrong. But I know that I’m on pretty shaky ground ethically speaking. My morals kind of go out the window when it comes to Luke and Leia…”

He was barely listening to her, she sounded like Obi-Wan, when he began speaking about laws and clients and lawsuits… he closed the folder. _Luke and Leia? Right, her twins… her twins… that she used a fertility clinic to have… with my sperm… oh God…_ “What exactly do you want from me?” He didn’t even know how the question sounded. Blunt? Sharp? Scared? Honestly, it was… extremely confusing for him to think straight right now. “I mean… I completely forgot about it, it was one time and the money was good—”

“I’m grateful,” she interrupted. “I don’t care why you did it, the best thing in my life happened because of it, and I wanted to at least thank you for that.”

 _Could this be more awkward?_ “You’re welcome?” He squirmed in his seat. From all the scenarios he had imagined with him facing fatherhood for the first time, this was not one of them.

“I know I do not have the right to ask you for anything else, I don’t… I mean, clearly, parenthood is the last thing on your mind. But I was hoping that you might,” she swallowed nervously. “I don’t know, let me have a photo I could show them? You don’t have to meet them or anything like that, they’ve always known how they were conceived, but I just… I can’t disappoint them. I can’t give them nothing.”

“There are pictures of me on Google you can use, I don’t have any laying around and… I’m sorry, if they know how they were... _conceived…_ didn’t you explain there are, well, rules?”

“Four-year-olds tend to ignore those.”

“Hmm,” he was at a loss of what to do.

“I don’t need an answer right away, Mr. Skywalker, I’m in California for a week working with Senator Organa on a draft of a bill we’re about to present during the Congressional recess. But please… promise me you’ll think about it?” She passed over a card with a phone number on it.

“About giving you a picture of me?” Warily, he accepted the card. “So that… two kids on the other side of the country can have the idea of a… dad?”

“I guess so.” She started the finger-twisting again. “You don’t have to say yes. I understand not wanting that pressure.”

“You wanted to be a single mom, why change your mind?” He stared at the card, with her name and phone number and knew that he couldn’t make this choice alone. Which meant telling his Mom, Ahsoka and… Obi-Wan, what had transpired. She bit her lip again, as if she wanted to answer, but didn’t know how to. “I mean… I’ll think about it.”

“Thank you.” She stood, picking up her coat. “May I have the file back, please?”

He looked at the blue folder and made a face, handing it back to her without a word.

“Goodbye, Mr. Skywalker. Thank you,” she said again.

Anakin just nodded, his brain processing the last fifteen minutes.

* * *

“Well, say yes!” Ahsoka advised, determined. “Forget the picture, that will not be enough. If I were you, I would fly out there and meet them personally, Skyguy.”

“Ahsoka, it can’t be like that,” Obi-Wan argued.

Anakin sighed and his shoulders fell forward. He had reunited with his mom, sister and best friend slash older brother figure slash very annoyed lawyer. After what happened that morning in his office, he knew he had to speak with someone, he needed advice. He started from the beginning, of course, about when and why did he decided to donate to a fertility clinic and how he had completely forgotten about it until Padmé Amidala, Congresswoman of Massachussetts showed up in his office with the last request he was prepared to hear.

The reactions were mixed. Obi-Wan had that irritating blank face, of someone who was getting ready to go to court. Ahsoka had been _elated_ with the prospect of a niece and nephew and his mother was… neutral. She hadn’t pronounced herself yet and Anakin felt very uncomfortable.

“Come on, Ben, he _has_ to meet them,” Ahsoka insisted.

“No, he does not,” Obi-Wan scowled. “As he made his donation, he signed a privacy contract that protected his identity and relinquished his parental rights over any children that may be conceived, so he has no responsibility for those children whatsoever.”

“That’s harsh, Ben, they are just two four-year-olds that want to meet their Dad,” she retorted, frowning at the other man’s cold response.

 _Dad…_ Anakin winced at that as he nervously tugged at the end of his sleeves. “Mom, you’re awfully quiet,” he said.

Shmi took a deep breath and adjusted her hair from one shoulder, to another. “Well, I’m just relieved that _that_ was how you got the money.”

Her son gave her an odd look. “That’s all you have to say?”

“No, sweetheart, but it has been eating at me for six years. I always thought you had taken a job like… the ones you used to when you were a tad more foolish,” she said with a glare.

“No, Mom, I did not go on the dark web to find a _job_ ,” Anakin rolled his eyes. “You could have just asked.”

“Ignorance is bliss sometimes,” she replied. “About _this_ situation, though, I think it’s your choice, Anakin.”

“That’s not helpful,” he cried out.

“Anakin, you can’t consider this proposition,” Obi-Wan told him. “She has no right to be asking you something of this magnitude. Accepting to have _any_ contact with these children is assuming responsibility. While I might seem cold, Anakin, I am only thinking about the future. They are very young and they will quickly form an attachment and they are easily traumatized. By accepting her request, you are responsible for an emotional attachment that can gravely affect a child.”

“Geez, Obi-Wan, I—”

“Not, _‘geez, Obi-Wan’,_ Anakin,” he interrupted. “It’s the reality.”

“With that, I have to agree, Ani,” Shmi said.

“What happened to it’s his choice, Mom?” Ahsoka scowled.

“It’s his choice, but it’s also a tremendous decision to make,” she replied to her daughter calmly. “I will support whatever you decide, Anakin, but in the end, you will be the one to live with the consequences of that.”

He sunk in his chair, completely confused and unable to have a straight train of thought. His brain was scattered and he never felt so helpless.

“I’m just saying, _I_ would have liked to know my birth parents, if that could have been possible,” Ashoka mumbled as she opened a bag of chips. “Not that you guys didn’t give me an amazing family, you totally did. But it’s weird to have a question mark in that big a part of your past. I feel for those kids.”

“Their mother should have thought of that before choosing to be a single parent,” Obi-Wan scoffed. “She should have thought on this part of their education.”

“You don’t know what went through her mind when she made the choices she made,” Shmi said coldly. “Single parenthood is a complicated thing. Stop thinking like a lawyer and think like a person for once.”

“Clearly, no one is in agreement,” Anakin said. “I need to think about this and fighting each other will get us nowhere. I understand where all of you are coming from, but… it _is_ my decision in the end and I need to think it through.”

“Maybe you should call the Congresswoman and ask her to meet you for dinner,” Ahsoka suggested. “Talk it over a little more.”

He rolled his eyes. “Ahsoka, I am not going on a date with the Congresswoman. It's really not the time for that sort of thing.”

“Who said it was a date? I didn’t say date, did you hear me say date, Mom?”

Anakin scoffed. “I'll think about it. About everything. She's only leaving in a week, anyway, so I have time.”

* * *

“You shouldn’t have gone. It’s asking for a scandal.”

“Well, I did go, so deal with it,” Padmé snapped, folding her arms as she looked Sabé right in the eye. “I would rather lose this Senate race than disappoint the twins.”

“You’re leaving in one day and he hasn’t called you back,” Sabé pointed out. “This is a man who’s making it big in the IT industry. What makes you think he wants to be tied down to a family he didn’t ask for?”

“Oh, for God’s sake, I asked for a photo, I didn’t ask him to marry me!” Padmé said, scowling as she paced around. “I thought it was the right thing to do, letting him set the boundaries!”

“You have to understand him,” Dormé stated more gently, from the other side of Sabé. “Out of the blue, he has two biological children, and now he has a choice to make. Whatever you ask him, photo or a meeting, it was bound to put some pressure on him. It all comes down to decide whether he wants to be a part of the twins’ lives, or not and it’s a daunting decision to make. I would be more concerned if he called you right away, it meant he did not think it through. He can still call,” she said with a small smile. “I’ve been reading about him and he seems like a good person.”

“I don’t doubt it.” Padmé sighed. “But that might give him even more reason not to call. I mean, the whole reason I didn’t ask someone I knew personally to be the donor was that I didn’t want things to be complicated with them as the twins grew up.”

“Why make things complicated now?” Sabé asked. “This is adding unnecessary pressure on your shoulders and you are risking an entire campaign.”

“I’m sorry, have you _seen_ Luke and Leia when they want something?”

Dormé chuckled and Sabé just shook her head. “Padmé, if you cave in every time they pout, you have a big problem on your hands.”

“I’ve held the line on the little things, but this isn’t little!”

“This is where you should’ve held the line,” Sabé pointed out and Dormé swatted her arm. “What?”

“Stop it, you, we already know you were against it. What’s done is done and we’ll deal with whatever the consequences are. That's what friends are for.”

“We’re not just friends, though, we’re congressional aides! I’m worried about the impact this could have on our chances in the Senate! And further down the line!”

“Enough.”Padmé stopped her pacing and shook her head. “We should all get some sleep. We’re not getting anywhere.” Her phone began ringing, though, holding off on the idea of all three women going to get some rest. Dormé eyed the phone and then glanced at Padmé, while Sabé pursed her lips. It was not an hour where anyone from the East coast would call, so that left them with very few guesses. “Bed,” she repeated, picking up the phone. “Hello?”

“Hi. Congresswoman Amidala? It’s Anakin Skywalker, I was wondering if we could talk?” On the other side, Anakin tried to sound confident, but he was already feeling his nerves affecting his voice. He had come to a decision and although it was not easy, he knew there wasn’t any other that he would feel comfortable with.

“Mr. Skywalker…” Padmé took a deep breath. “Yes, of course.”

“Also, please just call me Anakin. Mr. Skywalker makes me feel old.”

“I’m sorry, Anakin, being in Congress all the time requires a certain amount of formality.”

“I believe you,” he replied. “Listen, I had a few questions about your request. Do you think we can meet to discuss them? I would rather not do this over the phone.”

“Of… of course, when would be a good time for you?”

“I was hoping we could meet somewhere private? I am an excellent cook and I could make us dinner tomorrow night at my apartment. No prying eyes and we can speak freely about the situation at hand.”

Padmé hesitated, thinking about the potential optics. Then she thought about the twins. “Alright. I think I can make that work.”

“Good, good… what time and should I know any food allergies?”

“Um… seven. And no allergies, but I _am_ a vegetarian.”

“I will text you my address,” Anakin confirmed. “I will see you tomorrow, Congresswoman.”

“Thank you,” She swallowed. “Anakin. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Hanging up, she released the breath she’d been holding. This was reality. This was happening. 

* * *

Meeting at his apartment might be dangerous territory, but it was private and comfortable. Anakin needed to feel comfortable for the conversation he was going to have with the Congresswoman. He had thought about her request for a long time and honestly, he hasn’t been able to think about anything else. To think there were two little ones running around with his DNA and he never knew about them, or was part of any of it… well, let’s just say it wasn’t how he wanted to enter parenthood, but then again, he had made the decision of being a donor six years ago and he should have been concerned about that then, not now, when everything was already done and they already existed.

He knows the Congresswoman was not asking for anything too exaggerated. It was a photo of him, just for her children to know their father, even if he had no right to claim that role or even consider himself that. But Anakin wondered just how much a picture could satisfy two four-year-olds…

All train of thought was lost when the doorbell rang. He looked around the room and everything was set. It was a casual setting that he’d prepared, because if he had allowed Ahsoka, she would have turned his house into a love room, on the table that oversaw the big, floor to ceiling windows overlooking the city, he had his Spotify playlist connected to the sound system which was filled with positive, easy going music.

 _Here goes nothing._ Anakin thought to himself as he opened the door. “Congresswoman,” he greeted with a smile. “Thank you for accepting my invitation.”

“I think, given the circumstances, you can call me Padmé. Or Ms. Amidala. Whichever makes you more comfortable,” she said, smiling back.

“I think I’ll go with Padmé, if you don’t mind,” he stepped aside. “Please come in.”

“This is a nice apartment,” she remarked, removing her red coat as she stepped inside.

“It’s comfortable,” he agreed. “Wine?” He offered. “Dinner should be ready in a few minutes.”

“Thank you, but no, I don’t drink when I’m scheduled for a plane ride the next day.”

“Understood. I have orange juice if you prefer?”

Padmé’s smile grew a little as she set down her coat on a nearby armchair. “Orange juice would be lovely, thank you.”

When Anakin returned, he had a tall glass of freshly squeezed orange juice for her and a glass of white wine for him. “Sit, please, make yourself comfortable.”

“Thank you,” she said again, slipping into the chair where she’d put her coat and taking the glass. “For the drink. And for tonight. I wasn’t sure you were going to call me back. And running backup plans where I tell the twins their dad is a Jame Bond type secret agent. That can still be an option if you want.”

“I have a few questions,” he said, carefully sipping on his wine. “Why are you indulging them, when your first choice was to be a single parent?”

“It wasn’t,” she admitted bluntly. “I wanted to do it the traditional way, marriage and all that, but none of the guys I dated really wanted that. Or they weren’t crazy about the idea of being married to a politician. But I knew what I wanted, and I figured I could do it alone. And I did a pretty good job of it, but then they had family day at preschool, and I could see how much it… affected them when every other classmate had two parents, living or dead.”

“I can relate to that feeling,” Anakin admitted quietly. “My Mom was everything to me and Ahsoka. She raised us on her own.”

“She’s very brave for that. I know how difficult it is,” Padmé sighed. “Although, my career added an extra level of difficulty, moving them back and forth between Boston and DC… Everyone I know has told me I’m crazy for it at least once.”

“Having a career and wanting a family at the same time is not being crazy, it’s being human. No one should have to choose,” he argued. “I know it’s not easy to see the people we love suffer, or being hurt, but you must have known this would happen, right? You don’t look like the kind of woman who just wings it, so I’m just trying to make sense of why you would want to change the dynamics of your family.”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve been thinking this over for months. Part of me wanted to just take your picture off the internet, but that felt wrong. Like that was me making you their father without your consent.”

“What are you expecting to happen if I accept your request?” He sipped on his wine.

“I thought that was what tonight was for. Negotiating the terms,” she pointed out. “I won’t force you to do anything you don’t feel comfortable doing, Anakin.”

“No, you are not forcing me, but it’s not an easy position either. I could be a heartless son of a bitch and tell you to go and take a hike, since I have no responsibility whatsoever to you or the kids you have. But I’m not like that and I understand what it’s like to want to know more about where you’re from. My Mom did not have the same chances as you do and I think about what if she did and I would have wanted her to take them, so I could discover that chapter of myself,” he argued. “If I say no, I know I’m shutting the door on two kids just innocently wanting to know a little more about where they come from. Of wanting to feel included and not feel helpless when everyone has a _dad_ except you.”

“I didn’t know that,” Padmé murmured. “It wasn’t in your file. I’m sorry...”

“There was not a section there for childhood traumas,” he quipped lightly. “Why my file, by the way?”

“Your grades were impressive,” she answered with a guilty little smile. “And you had the cutest baby photo. I wanted those fat little cheeks. And now I’m realizing how creepy that sounds.”

He laughed. “Yeah, my mom used to gush about that photo all the time and so I thought it would be a good greeting card. I’m happy my intelligence pleased you, it got me where I am today… save for some little mistakes,” he chuckled. “Padmé, I would really love to help you.”

“We can talk about it a little more later,” she suggested. “Right now, I smell your cooking, and it’s reminding me that I haven’t eaten in about seven hours.”

“Right,” he looked at the clock. “Why don’t you sit at the table and I’ll bring our plates in a few seconds?”

“Wicked,” she agreed, standing up and heading toward the kitchen table. “So how come cooking didn’t make it onto your list of skills and accomplishments?”

“I had to choose between IT prodigy and MasterChef contestant,” he winked.

“You were _not_ on MasterChef,” she said with a smirk. “I used to binge watch that show all the time, I would’ve remembered you.”

“I could have been on MasterChef,” he said cheekily as he prepared their plates and set hers in front of her. “But I had a thesis to write and a company to build,” he grinned as he sat on his seat. “I hope it’s good, I don’t have a lot of experience with vegetarian dishes.”

“Well, it smells great,”`

“Honestly, it’s regular pasta. I just didn’t include meat in yours,” he confessed.

“Still… what sauce is this? I don’t think I’ve ever smelled anything like it,” she remarked, sticking her fork into the pasta with a smile.

“It’s my little secret,” he said happily.

“Well,” Padmé paused to take a bite and savor it. “It’s delicious. Maybe you should give MasterChef another call.”

“If everything else fails, I will.”

“So, exactly what is everything else?” she asked curiously.

“An IT consulting company that specializes in developing software for several major clients in the country. We have a specific line of coding, a big part of our business, that allows our clients to avoid corporate espionage and raise their firewalls defenses in order to avoid being hacked. We are actually developing software for A-Listers that seem to keep getting their nudes posted all over TMZ. Some people laugh at the idea, Kitster and I just know we’re going to make millions out of that,” Anakin explained.

“I know quite a few Senators who would be interested in that,” Padmé said dryly, wrinkling her nose.

“Yes. That’s just a little side project Kit and I have been working on. He’s been my partner from the beginning. We used to joke we would do it in college, whenever a celebrity would have a scandal like that, so right now we’re just like, it could work. In this market, safety and privacy is everything. So far, all of my softwares have been well received, my clients are extremely happy with the company and I have a great team behind me. I’ve spent the last seven years working for this… actually, I spent all my life working for this,” he glanced at the framed articles on the wall. “It just feels nice after so long, being recognized.”

“I’m glad you’re doing well for yourself,” Padmé smiled. “It must have been exhausting.”

“It was rewarding though. You’re not doing bad for yourself either.”

“Well, it’s pretty easy to run as a Democrat in Massachusetts, especially in the 7th,” Padmé said, waving it off a little. “It’s the primary that’s the hardest part.”

“I am going to need to admit to you that politics is not my strength or my favorite thing, so if you could walk me through it…?”

“Oh, um, sure,” she said, a little surprised. “Well, the district I represent makes up about half the city of Boston, and a few surrounding towns, including Cambridge. And cities tend to be more liberal, so, as a young, college-educated Jewish single mother, I ticked a lot of the boxes, and offered a fresh face. There was a lot of voter turnout from college students and single moms at the primaries, and since there weren’t any Republicans running in the district, I ended up winning. It’s a little different running for Senate.”

“You’re running for Senate now, are you?” He asked, sipping on his wine. “And let me guess, then Governor and maybe the Presidency?”

“No, not Governor,” Padmé said, shaking her head. “Vice President, maybe.”

“They are certainly ambitious plans. I hope they come true. You have my vote if they do,” he chuckled. “But going back to our original conversation,” he got a bit more serious. “If I told you I would help you, what would you really want? If it is really just a picture, will that be enough?”

“It would be better than nothing,” Padmé said, setting her fork down. “What I really want is for the twins to be happy, but not at the cost of uprooting your own life, Anakin.”

“I don’t mind giving you a picture, but I wonder if you’re not returning in a month asking for something else because a picture was not enough to satisfy their curiosity. It’s better than nothing, yes, it’s a face to put to a name, but what about everything else?”

“I mean, my schedule doesn’t exactly allow for monthly trips to California, but I see your point.” The finger twisting started again. “My sister keeps telling me if I would start dating, that would help things, but that sort of thing is easier said than done.”

“I imagine you are not lacking in suitors.”

“I don’t really have a lot of time for dating. Between the twins and the House, there isn’t a lot of downtime. At least, not that’s convenient for a regular work schedule.”

“You sound like me whenever my friends try to set me up in a date,” he smiled. “I might not have twin toddlers to occupy most of my time, but I do have my clients. They can behave like toddlers sometimes.” Anakin pointed out. “I… I can let you choose a photo if you want. The reason I’m asking so many questions is that… I might not be a father, but I know how little kids work. They are going to get even more curious, they will want more, need more and I just wonder if you’re going to cave into their pouty lips and teary eyes again,” he teased softly.

“I’m working on it,” Padmé sighed. “I keep hoping that when they’re older, it’ll be easier.”

Anakin nodded and stood up, finishing his wine. He walked over to one of the cabinets and opened a drawer, removing a hefty envelope. Returning to the table, he set it by her side as he took his seat again. “Ahsoka is still traditional and likes to make albums for us. She had a few photos from our last family vacation printed. There are a few of me in there, you can choose the one to take. Maybe take more than one, if you want to.”

“You have more, right?” she asked worriedly. “These aren’t the only copies?”

“Don’t worry, they’re not.”

Padmé slowly turned the pages. “Maybe in ten years. Or thirteen. Maybe then they’d be old enough…”

“To… meet me? To truly understand why I was never in their lives?” He asked quietly as he observed her watching which picture to choose.

“I don’t know. Would you…want that?”

Anakin looked down at the pictures. Being a father figure… this was the last thing he had imagined but her twins were biologically his too. He couldn’t deny them the chance to know him. Couldn’t make them go through life with that big question mark over their heads, just like he and Ahsoka had. “I would never deny them that. Not with my own personal experience in the matter.”

“I mean, my original thought was that I’d wait that long to give them your name. Until they were adults,” Padmé said. “To make sure they understand you don’t owe them anything.”

“If that’s how you want to do things, I won’t oppose.”

“You’re free to change your mind at any point, just call me and tell me.”

He nodded but frowned. In thirteen years, or fourteen years, his whole life would be different and he would always think that a knock on the door would be the twins he knew existed asking for something else, something they never had. Anakin might be saying that he would give them that chance, but how much would their life change until then? What if they never knocked on his door? Knowing they existed and not doing _anything_ about it, just felt like straight up abandonment. That thought alone bothered him. It shouldn’t, he had no emotional ties to the children, but it would be selfish. The twins would know that he was aware of their existence and still did nothing to know them. They could understand, but they could also hate him for it.

“Tell me something,” Padmé’s voice interrupted his thoughts. “Do you like the beach?”

“Not particularly. I’m not very fond of sand. It gets _everywhere._ ” He made a face. “Why do you ask?”

“This picture here,” she said, pointing at one of Ahsoka chasing him across a boardwalk with fists clenched— full of sand. “The twins do something similar any time I take them out to the Cape.”

Anakin laughed. “Yes, Ahsoka finds it funny my complete dislike for sand and she makes it her life mission to shove it down my head or my bathing suit, just to watch me squirm,” he explained. “I get back at her with seaweed. She’s oddly disgusted by that,” he snickered. “Do, uh, do they like… the beach?” It was the first direct question he made about them.

“No, they hate sand too. And grass. They say it tickles too much.”

“Well, yeah, have you sat on grass too?” He scrunched up his nose.

“Oh, come on, it’s not that bad,” she laughed. “Or at least not bad enough to warrant screaming bloody murder.”

“You and my mom would have a lot to talk about,” he quipped. “What do they enjoy doing in their free time?”

“Luke likes planes and spaceships. Leia likes superheroes and dolls,” Padmé answered. “It does let them have a middle ground, rather than constantly arguing. They put Leia’s dolls on the spaceships and have the superheroes save them.”

“Let me show you something,” Anakin said and stood up. “Come on,” he smiled at her as he went over to his office.

“What is it?” she asked, raising an eyebrow as she followed him.

He turned the lights on the office and waved over to one of the walls, in which he had exposed his collection of  _planes and spaceships._ “I collected them over the years. When I started to fly a lot for work, I would buy a miniature of the plane, so I have almost every airplane from the current airlines and the spaceships are a bit of more work. I usually assemble them myself, they are collector's items,” and on the shelf below he had a collection of a couple of Funko Pop figurines and comic books. “These I’ve bought in Comic Con. Ashoka and I usually head to San Diego for that, plus a few friends of ours. It’s sort of a tradition.”

“Oh, my God, you’re a nerd,” she laughed.

“This is what happens when you choose someone from a catalog,” he teased, blushing as he leaned against the doorway and let her explore.

“I didn’t say that was a bad thing,” she pointed out with a smile. “I’m just as guilty. You should see the Playbills I have in my own office at home.”

He smiled. “I guess everyone has their thing. When you said Luke was into planes and spaceships, Leia was into superheroes, well… I had to show you this.”

“Even if they didn’t know who you were, they’d probably think you were the coolest person ever. And they once met President Valorum.”

“Hmm. They go to preschool?”

“They’ll be starting kindergarten soon. They tested well enough to skip the last year of preschool.”

“They’re smart, then,” he grinned.

“Very. I did go to Harvard.”

“And I did go to MIT. IT prodigy, remember?” He couldn’t help but feel proud of the twins, and the more she told him, the more he wanted to know, although he couldn’t figure out if it was good or bad.

“Oh, I remember.”

Anakin rocked on the balls of his feet as he glanced at one of the frames in his desk. His mother had given it to him. It was him, at five years old, playing in a park. “What do they look like?” He asked, suddenly and wondered if maybe, he was asking too many questions.

“Oh, um, here.” Padmé pulled out her phone, opening it up and scrolling through her photos. “Here.” The twins were both dressed in white, and at first glance, you wouldn’t guess they were related, let alone twins. Leia was fair skinned with dark eyes and a little button nose, and she wore her brown hair in two tiny buns while her brother hugged her, his yarmulke slightly askew in the mop of dark blond hair that hung over his blue eyes and broad, rosy cheeks. But they had the same happy smiles. “We took that for our last holiday card,” Padmé explained.

He stared at her phone for a few minutes, observing and memorizing every trace of their little faces and there was a sudden emotion running through him as he realized that he had some responsibility for those two little, perfect beings. Luke was just like him when he was younger and clearly, Leia took after her mother. Anakin gave her the phone back with an unreadable expression. “They’re really beautiful,” he cleared his throat. “Dessert?” He offered as he turned on his back and made his way back to the kitchen.

“Are you okay?” she asked worriedly.

“Yes,” he replied, his back to her as he opened the fridge. “I have chocolate mousse, it’s actually vegetarian appropriate. Do you like it?” Behind the fridge door, he was trying really hard to push the rush of emotions down.

“Um… sure,” she said, pursing her lips at the obvious lie.

“Or ice cream,” he rubbed the back of his neck. “What do you prefer?”

“Chocolate mousse is fine. Maybe with a little fruit, if you have it?”

“Yes,” he grabbed the two chocolate mousse cups and set them on the counter. “I have strawberries, raspberries, bananas… take your pick, I mostly have everything in season,” he said as he grabbed two spoons from the cutlery drawer. Padmé glanced over at the fruit bowl on his counter, picking up a pear and rinsing it off in the sink.

“Do you want some too?”

“No, it’s fine,” he mumbled, passing her the chocolate mousse cup and taking his back to his seat.

“Okay, suit yourself.”

“Have you chosen the pictures?” He asked, staring at the mousse as he twirled the spoon in it.

“I think I need another look.”

“Sure,” he nodded.

“Are you wearing glasses in some of them?”

“I spend a lot of hours in front of the computer, so sometimes I have wear glasses to rest my eyes. I don’t need them all the time,” he explained.

“I see. I’ve got a pair of my own, in my purse,”  she confessed.

“Nowadays, most of the population uses glasses, even if it’s just for reading purposes,” he shrugged, as he finished the creamy mousse. “What did your family think when you told me you were coming to see me?”

“Well,” Padmé’s spoon went up and down in her own dessert. “I didn’t tell them.”

“You think they would oppose? Or that maybe they would have been capable of changing your mind?”

“I didn’t tell them because they wouldn’t understand.”

“Right,” Anakin nodded slowly. “Then again, you can’t blame them. You don’t know me. Don’t know what kind of person I am. You’re a woman in a position of power, a man would probably use you and take advantage of that. Did you do any research before coming to see me?”

“Enough to know I could handle you,” she said, her voice getting colder.

“Handle me?” He raised his eyebrows. “What is that supposed to mean?”

“It means that I knew you had just as much to lose as I did. I’m a politician, I know how to spin things,” she pointed out.

“You know how to spin things, I know how to _hack_. One of these is more efficient than the other,” he scowled.

“Are you planning on doing that?” she asked bluntly.

“I don’t know, are you planning on _handling_ me?” He asked back, fiercely.

“Not since the moment I set foot in your office.”

“That’s comforting,” he sulked. “What made you change your mind?”

“Call it intuition. You’re a good person. I wouldn’t be here if you weren’t.”

“Still, you put your career in jeopardy over  _a photo._ ” Anakin stood from the table and grabbed the bottle of wine, pouring another glass for himself, and leaned against the kitchen island.

“My kids are worth more to me than any political office,” she said firmly.

“I’m glad to hear that,” he mumbled, nursing the glass. At least he wouldn’t have to worry about his kids missing their mom, or feeling alone… _wait, did I just think of them as_ **_my_ ** _kids?_ He froze, unsure of what to do and sipped his wine slowly.

“These three.” She pulled a photo of him in a red polo shirt, one of him in a blue coat over a plaid shirt and one of him carrying things at the beach. “I think that’ll be enough to show them.”

“They’re yours.” He whispered looking down at his glass. “I hope it makes them happy… somehow.”

“They’re pretty happy kids. Sometimes, I think Luke even cries happy.”

Anakin smiled at that but didn’t look up.

“I think I’m going to go now. I have an early flight.”

“Of course,” he set the glass down and retrieved her jacket, to help her put it on.

“Thank you, Anakin.”

“You’re welcome,” he whispered as he went over to the door and opened it for her. “I guess I’ll see you in thirteen years, maybe.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. “Goodnight.”

He tried to hold it in as she left the threshold, he really did. “What if I want to meet them?” He cringed, regretting his question immediately.

“You do have my phone number,” she pointed out, turning back to face him.

“I know, but I don’t mean... a few years down the road.”

“My number’s not going to change.”

“It’s going to probably change your plan of being a single parent. When you showed me that picture, it just made everything real and the best thing in your life might have happened because I decided to donate, but I feel like it was the stupidest thing I’ve done. Because I’m a father, but at the same time I’m not and it’s messed up.” He blurted out.

“Sleep on it,” she said kindly, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You’re processing a lot of new information, and I can see it overloading your brain. You can call me over the weekend, or a month, or a year from now, or any time in between then. Just… let yourself take the time to work this out. It doesn’t need to be solved immediately.”

He knew she was right and so he nodded, stepping back. “Have a safe flight.”

“Thank you, I’m sure I will.” She reached into her purse and pulled out a little white Hot Wheels plane. “Luke makes me carry this for good luck.”

“Well, it’s been working so far, right? Kid might be onto something,” he smiled sweetly at the little plane.

“Yeah, maybe.” She smiled too, but she was looking right at him. “Well, goodnight, Anakin.”

“Goodnight, Padmé.”


	2. Chapter 2

Anakin was getting nauseous just by seeing Obi-Wan pace in front of him, his face blank and his posture stiff. He had just asked his _best friend,_ who also was his _older brother_ figure, some legal advice, should he decide to be part of Luke and Leia Amidala’s life.

Obi-Wan was clearly unimpressed at his train of thought as he strongly disapproved of his actions. But, while he understood, Anakin’s mind was set. All he could think about for the past week, ever since Padmé left his apartment, was the picture she showed him of her twins. _Their_ twins. They weren’t conceived the traditional way, but they were still his, they had his DNA and that was so evident in Luke’s blonde hair and big blue eyes, he thinks Leia probably has his nose and smile – yes, he has also done some Google research on the Congresswoman and her two adorable toddlers.

One of his lifelong plans had been and still was to be a father. He hadn’t had one growing up, so he always imagined himself being a very hands-on, present and caring father and the fact was that, for four years, he has had two little kids that he never heard about. More and more he berated himself for becoming a donor, he was so stupid! A rash decision to make money ruined a dream of a lifetime. Anakin was determined to make amends and that began with meeting the twins and letting them know him personally, not just seeing his face on a few candid pictures.

“This is a bad idea, Anakin.”

“So you said.”

“Do you realize the responsibilities you are going to have by doing this?” Obi-Wan stopped and looked at him with narrowed eyes. “This is not just signing a paper, Anakin, this is taking responsibility for two young lives. Making decisions together with their mother regarding their education, their extracurricular activities, health… Anakin, she just asked for a picture and you gave it to her. You don’t need to go to such extreme lengths.”

“Yes, I do,” Anakin said, stubbornly. “How can I move on with my life when I know I’m somebody’s father and have done _nothing_ to be a part of their life? Obi-Wan, I really want, no, I need to meet them.”

“Do you think she wants you to be part of their lives?”

“She came to me, she knows the risk.”

“Well, I am sure she never thought you would want to go that far.”

Obi-Wan sighed, exasperated, and sat down. “She is a politician, climbing up the ladder until she probably becomes President. If you decide to be a part of those kids’ lives, you are going to get caught up in that.”

Anakin got quiet as he thought over his words. “She’s not going to be President tomorrow. Or after tomorrow. Or even next year.”

“Don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The younger man rolled his eyes. “You’re going to be at my funeral and before they lay me on the ground, you’re going to say to my dead face _I told you so,_ aren’t you?”

Obi-Wan smirked. “Most likely.”

“You’re hateful.”

“Just call the Congresswoman and tell her about your fatherhood urges. Then, should everything go according to plan, I’ll handle the technicalities of your parental rights.” 

* * *

 “It’s my turn!”

“Nuh-uh, you did it yesterday!”

“Did not!”

“Kids,” Padmé said seriously, taking the markers from the twins’ fists. “We’ve been over this. Luke gets even days, Leia gets odd. Today is an odd day. It’s Leia’s turn. You’re about to be five years old, you should act like it.”

“Awwww,” Luke sulked, grabbing his yellow robot stuffy and hugging it tightly. “No fair, it was an odd day yesterday too.”

Leia smirked and stuck out her tongue. “It’s ‘cuz I’m better.”

“MOMMY—”

“Don’t start, you two.” Padmé sighed, uncapping one of the markers and putting a neat red X through the days’ date. “There, now I’ve done it, and we can move on with bedtime. Okay?”

“Yes, Mommy,” the twins sighed and Leia held up her Captain America bear.

“Kiss him goodnight too,” she demanded. Padmé laughed a little and kissed the bear on its nose before kissing Leia’s cheeks.

“Does Threepio want a kiss too, Luke?” she asked.

“Nope. And I don’t either. I’m a big boy.”

“Oh, I think that’s a lie,” Padmé said, moving to her son’s bed and wiggling her fingers. “Especially since we all know that no kisses means tickles instead.”

“Noooooo!” Luke wailed as Padmé’s fingers made contact with his stomach. “Mommy, no! You can kiss me!”

“That’s what I thought,” Padmé laughed, giving him a kiss on the forehead. “Okay, good night.”

“Good night, Mommy.”

Padmé was about to switch off the lights when Leia sat up in her bed. “Mommy, did you get him? Do we get Dad for our birthday?”

Padmé hesitated, thinking about the photos of Anakin Skywalker that were currently hidden in her sock drawer. “You know I can’t tell you, honey, that ruins the surprise.”

“Do we at least get a clue?” Luke asked, joining his sister in violating the standing bedtime policy.

“We’ll talk about it at breakfast,” Padmé said, using her Congress voice. “Now, lights out. I love you.”

“We love you,” they chorused as the room went dark and Padmé left the door open a crack so that light from the hall could still filter in. Letting out a long sigh, she headed back into the living room, cleaning up the remains of their movie night. She was still uncertain about this entire thing. She shouldn’t have promised them. All she could think about was Anakin, on the other side of the country, reasonably upset by the fact that she’d come in and turned his world upside down by revealing the twins’ existence.

On cue, her phone went off with a familiar, LA number. She hesitated for a moment, then accepted the call, putting the phone to her ear. “Hello?”

“Hi,” Anakin quietly greeted before a few seconds of silence ticked by. “Is this a bad time?”

“No, I can talk. What is it?” she asked, sandwiching the phone between her face and her shoulder as she folded up the blankets.

“You were right, my brain was on overload at our dinner and I did need time to process the information,” he said and he hoped he didn’t sound overly nervous, he has been picking up and setting his phone down for hours now.

“That does tend to happen,” she agreed politely. “But you feel better now?”

“Yes, I had time to think and…” he sighed, running his fingers through his hair and tugging at the roots before blurting out his next statement, “all I can really think about is the picture of the twins you show me. How they are the most perfect little kids on the face of the planet and well, we did make two good looking kids, even if you went the untraditional way.” He ended up in a light tone, hoping the small joke would ease them into the next part of their conversation.

She laughed awkwardly. “They only seem that way. The reality is that they’re little monsters.”

“Really?” He asked amused. Funnily enough, his mom said the same about him. “How so?”

“Well, about five minutes ago, there was a fight over who got to cross off the date on the calendar.”

Anakin chuckled. “Sounds important, who won?”

“No one, I did it myself.”

“Aw, sounds disappointing,” he laughed.

“Oh, and how would you have handled it?” she teased. “Enlighten me.”

“Hmmm… if it was  _so_ important, we would all get to cross out the day. In different colors. To make sure it was really crossed off,” he quipped. “It would look pretty on the calendar.”

“And then they’d argue about who did it better.”

“Nothing a good bedtime story couldn’t distract. Or tickles. Tickles are always effective when diffusing an argument.”

She did a double take. “I use tickle monster when Luke says he doesn’t want a goodnight kiss. Cootie phase, you know?”

“Come on, who wouldn’t want a kiss from you?” He smiled and then immediately regretted his words. It was… forward.

“A boy who thinks he’s too grown up and tough for them,” Padmé answered, ignoring Anakin’s slip up. “It’s a whole phase. But I don’t think that’s why you called.”

“No, it wasn’t,” he sobered up. “I… I want to meet them, Padmé.”

“Meet them,” she repeated slowly.

“Y-Yes,” he sounded nervous again.

“Anakin, you know you can’t take it back if you do this, right? It’d be a commitment for life.”

“I know what is like to grow up fatherless, Padmé and the thought that I’m stopping two little kids from having one and stopping myself to fulfill one of my lifelong dreams is… unthinkable. I know it’s daunting, I’m scared, of course. I mean, I didn’t have nine months to prepare like one is supposed to and every initial mistake will be remembered because they are four and not months old, but… God, all I can think about, dream about and even talk about is them,” Anakin ranted.

“Please breathe,” she requested softly. “I didn’t say no.”

“Oh.” He sighed. “I’m sorry, I tried to rehearse something reasonable,” there was a rustling of papers on his end and another sigh. “The sentiment remains though.”

“I understand. We’re in Washington right now, but their birthday is going to be in a month when we’re back in Massachusetts. Maybe we could schedule something then?”

“One month… it doesn’t sound so far away. Are you giving me extra time to decide if this is really what I want?”

“No, but travel prices tend to go up. I figured I should give you ample time to get a good ticket.”

“And make sure I’m making the right decision.”

“You’re an adult, Anakin, if this is what you want, I’ll accept it.”

He made a face. “Now it just sounds like you’re treating me like a kid. I’m booking my ticket tonight.”

“Okay. Do you want a hotel recommendation too?”

“Yeah, that would be great. Can you text me the best ones?”

“Sure. And I will also text you what everyone else is getting the twins, in case you were planning on bringing presents,” she said in a deadpan.

“Presents! Yes, can’t forget that. It’s their birthday and I’m kind of running four years behind, so the presents list would be awesome.”

“Anakin, don’t break the bank on them, otherwise, they’re going to know they can depend on you to spoil them.”

“Alright, so I’m crossing five gifts each out of my to-do list, then.”

“Please tell me that was a joke.”

“...it was a joke?” He said sheepishly.

“Oh, we’re doomed,” she laughed. “Okay, was there anything else you needed?”

“Yes. Pictures. My mother and my sister are driving me insane. Trust me, they are way more excited about them. That’s saying something, I’m pretty excited myself. We have a family group on Whatsapp, it’s madness.”

“The viral videos aren’t enough?” she asked with a smile.

“They want something more personal, not the paparazzi shots. The candid pictures they take without authorization are just lack of common sense and respect,” he said annoyed.

“I meant the ones my campaigns have released over the last four years, but I take your point.”

“Since you were so nice to give me ample time to get a good ticket, I think I owe you the same courtesy and give you a heads up about my family.”

“Heads up in what way?”

“They’re clingy and barely know boundaries. As soon as she’s allowed to, Ahsoka will be on the next flight to meet the twins and my mom won’t be too far behind, albeit she’ll have a bit more care than Ahsoka. You shouldn’t worry about _me_ spoiling them. They have an eager grandmother and an aunt who probably rivals them in energy,” Anakin smirked.

“Well, then you might do well to remind them that if your whole family starts visiting us, our privacy goes out the window,” she said bluntly.

“I was not suggesting they would do it right after I went there, I was just mentioning… what do you mean, exactly, with privacy?”

“I mean, Anakin, that you and I are both relatively public figures. If your family starts visiting mine on a regular basis, someone might put two and two together.”

“You’re right,” he muttered. “I will hold them here. Until we have everything cleared and decided. I forgot about that, I’m sorry.”

“No need to apologize. Just thinking about all the possibilities. Kind of what I do. I’m a planner.”

“I’m the opposite. I guess it’s good I have you, then?” Anakin nearly slapped himself, again. “As the mother of the twins, I mean. I wouldn’t want to screw it up… it’s good that… that is you. That’s what I mean.”

“Anakin, are you tired?” she asked in a very motherly tone. “Do you need to sleep?”

“I’m running on caffeine and sugar. I have a new program that I need to finish. I mean, there’s a Forbes cover I want to be in next year, so I better work for it,” he chuckled. “I’m taking too much of your time, aren’t I? I should let you get back to your life.”

“My life for the rest of tonight was going to be reviewing reproductive freedom legislation. It sounds like your work is a lot more interesting.”

Anakin grinned. “Coding _is_ fun. If you love what you do, you won’t have to work a day in your life, isn’t that right?”

“Hey, I love being a public servant, it’s my fellow public servants that are the bummer.”

“That’s politics,” he quipped.

“Your condescension is noted.”

“If I liked politics, I would have gone to Harvard, not MIT.”

“Harvard has more than just future politicians!”

He sighed. “I am _too_ exhausted to fight with one. I’m sure your power of persuasion and argumentation can argue me to the death.”

“Not before you code me to death.”

“We both have our strengths, madam,” he snickered. “But it might also be our bedtime, no?”

“I mean, you’re three hours behind me, and I put the twins to bed at eight, so I don’t know why you’d be going to bed at five in the evening.”

“Wait, it’s five?” He sounded suddenly lost and things fell around him. “Oh my God…”

“What’s wrong?”

“I might have spent the last twenty-four hours in the same spot,” he cringed.

“Oh, my God, I take it back, go shower and sleep!”

“That might be a wise decision. Do you see why I ramble and say so many blunt things?”

“I mean, it’s kind of cute. When Leia does it, we call it babbling.”

Padmé couldn’t see, but Anakin was grinning from ear to ear. _Aw, she thinks I’m cute._ “That sound much more adorable than what I do. Besides my messed-up rambling, I tend to _techno-babble_ as Ashoka puts it.”

“Go to bed, Anakin.”

“Alright, alright, undressing as we speak,” he chuckled. “Padmé?”

“Yes?”

“Thank you. I promise you won’t regret it.”

“I’ll send you that text in the morning.”

“I’ll be waiting. Take care, Padmé,” he said softly.

“Bye.”

* * *

 **Padmé** : Did you get the photos? Remind your mom not to share them ;)

 **Anakin** : I did! I am gushing over them. Mom too. I think I might print one out for my office.

 **Anakin** : Both my mom and Ahsoka are warned about the consequences. They take our privacy very seriously. :)

 **Padmé:** That’s good to hear. And the toy list?

 **Anakin** : Browsing it as we speak :D

 **Anakin** : Do you think you can be flexible on that one gift per twin rule? :3

 **Padmé:** Four gifts total, maximum.

 **Padmé:** That’s how much they get from the rest of their family.

 **Anakin** : Alright, I’ll think of something. Anything they really want in particular?

 **Padmé:** Leia’s growing her collection of superhero bears. And just today, Luke asked if his Threepio could be a real robot.

 **Anakin** : Do you have a picture of Threepio?

 **Padmé:** The Hanukkah photo from last year. Yellow toy, looks like a human doll, but with yarn wire on the stomach and sequin eyes?

 **Anakin** : Aw, that cute little thing. Yep. Got it.

 **Padmé:** Got it?

 **Anakin** : Didn’t I mention my bachelor’s degree in robotics in my application?

**Padmé: …**

**Padmé:** Maybe. But how are you going to make the doll a robot when Luke has it with him every night?

 **Anakin** : I’m like Tony Stark. Just much more handsome. And not as many zeros in the bank. :)

 **Padmé:** Leia’s not much of an Iron Man fan. She prefers Captain America. Now answer the question.

 **Anakin** : :O

 **Anakin** : Civil War!!

 **Anakin** : Alright, alright. I’m going to need your help and sticky fingers.

 **Padmé:** Oh, my God.

 **Anakin** : What?

 **Padmé:** You’re basically asking me to traumatize him.

 **Anakin:** Don’t be so dramatic. The plan is simple. You take him during the night and when he wakes up, he will _still_ have Threepio, but in robot form.

 **Padmé:** You can do this in one night?

 **Anakin** : I wish I could say I’m that good.

 **Anakin** : No, I’m going to need all the time I have left before I travel to Boston.

 **Anakin:** My plan was for them to wake up the morning after our dinner and have Threepio there. _Robot_ Threepio.

 **Anakin** : I’ll have him shipped there before I leave LA.

 **Padmé:** So there’s going to be two Threepios?

 **Padmé:** I was expecting you to... put a robot skeleton in current Threepio.

 **Anakin** : Or I can make an actual robot. Life-sized. Like that Tyra Banks movie.

 **Padmé:** Oh. My. God.

 **Padmé:** If this leads to Skynet, I’m blaming you.

 **Anakin** : Killjoy -.-”

 **Padmé:** I cannot believe a grown man admitted to watching Life-Size.

 **Anakin** : A grown man that is an impeccable older brother.

 **Anakin** : I suffered through Justin Bieber and One Direction concerts before her music taste got on the right track.

 **Padmé:** All jokes aside, please do not make a life-size robot for Luke.

 **Padmé:** If you do, Leia will want one, and then suddenly, we’ll have a robot apocalypse on our hands.

 **Anakin** :  You make it sound like a bad thing. :P

 **Padmé:** I *REALLY* hope neither of them has your sense of humor.

 **Anakin** : :)

 **Anakin** : :) :)

 **Anakin** : Deep down, you already know which one of them does.

 **Anakin** : :)

 **Padmé:** And just like that, I’m ready to go sit through another hearing on taxes.

 **Anakin** : :) :) :) :)

 **Anakin** : I don’t envy you at all.

 **Anakin** : [attaches picture of candy-filled break room]

 **Anakin** : My job is better than yours :)

 **Padmé** : [attaches picture of her and Meryl Streep]

 **Padmé** : Oh, really?

 **Anakin** : :O

 **Anakin** : MEAN!

 **Anakin** : …

 **Anakin** : I was cheated by you and I think I know when.

 **Padmé** : Did your sister steal your phone?

 **Anakin** : Let’s just say yes and move on with our lives.

 **Padmé:** See you in three weeks.

 **Anakin** : Good luck with the taxes.

“Are you sexting again?”

Anakin jumped and nearly dropped his phone. Cursing, he turned around to glare at his younger sister. “What?” He snapped.

The younger Skywalker snickered, her dark blue eyes sparkling. “I’ve called you like… ten times. Your five pm is here. Time to make some money, big brother.”

“Yeah, yeah, can you leave me alone now?”

Ahsoka raised her eyebrows. “It’s getting serious.”

“What is?” Anakin sighed and set his phone aside.

“That thing with Padmé.”

“There’s no ' _thing'_ with Padmé.”

“There are actually  _two_ things with Padmé,” Ahsoka giggled. “But I was referring to your texting relationship.”

Anakin just glared at her and both siblings had a staring match for a few long seconds. “Don’t I pay you to do some actual work?”

Ahsoka threw her head back laughing. “You are such a goner, bro…” she mumbled as she turned on her back and skipped back to her desk. 

* * *

  **Anakin** : My evening was awful. -.-”

 **Anakin** : How was the twins bedtime? :)

 **Padmé** : They were better behaved than usual.

 **Padmé** : What was so bad about tonight?

 **Padmé:** Robot on the fritz?

 **Anakin** : No. Blind date. Amee set me up with one of her co-workers again.

 **Padmé:** Why do you keep letting her do that?

 **Padmé:** You never like who she picks.

 **Padmé:** If you want to date, why not just use an app?

 **Anakin** : I don’t want to date.

 **Anakin** : She just ambushes me.

 **Anakin** : Says I work too much and need to have some fun.

 **Anakin** : I already told her no more blind dates. It’s getting ridiculous.

 **Padmé:** Well, then.

 **Padmé:** I guess you better just stay inside every night working on that robot.

 **Padmé** : Can’t go out on dates if you don’t go out.

 **Anakin** : Women seem to like being inside with me even more than at a restaurant.

 **Anakin** : ;)

 **Padmé:** PLEASE don’t make jokes like that when we go out with the twins.

 **Anakin** : Easy, I was teasing :|

 **Anakin** : I’m not that irresponsible, ok?

 **Anakin** : Also, I don’t really date that much. I was always… well, sort of a… geek. Dork. Girls preferred the quarterback.

 **Padmé** : High school girls are generally idiots.

 **Padmé** : And most quarterbacks peak at that point.

 **Padmé** : I bet a lot of girls you asked out in high school are regretting turning you down now.

 **Anakin** : Their loss will be another woman’s gain one day.

 **Padmé:** Lucky her.

 **Padmé:** I can’t remember the last time I dated.

 **Anakin** : So, there isn’t anyone for you?

 **Padmé:** Not really since law school.

 **Anakin** : Well, the right one hasn’t come along yet.

 **Padmé:** Know any nice, smart guys who won’t mind dating a woman who already has two kids and is probably going to be a Senator?

**Padmé: …**

**Padmé:** Well, that wasn’t awkward at all. I’m so sorry.

 **Anakin** : Maybe I do.

 **Anakin** : And maybe I won’t tell you ;)

 **Padmé:** wow, rude.

 **Anakin** : You need to ask nicely.

 **Padmé:** I’m not going to give you the satisfaction.

 **Padmé:** besides, how do I know you won’t be just as bad as your friends are at setting people up?

 **Anakin** : Your loss. He’s a keeper.

 **Padmé:** Amateur negotiation tactic, Skywalker.

 **Anakin** : My negotiator tactics are perfect, Ms. Amidala, I just can’t put them in use over texting.

 **Padmé:** You are so bad.

 **Anakin** : Oh, you have **no** idea.

 **Padmé:** maybe that’s why your dates go so badly.

 **Anakin** : I know. Not every woman can handle me.

 **Anakin** : It takes a special kind of woman to do so.

 **Padmé:** Sure, whatever makes you feel better. ;p

 **Padmé:** I’m going to finish packing.

 **Padmé:** our flight home is tomorrow, and the twins ALWAYS forget something.

 **Anakin** : Sounds legit.

 **Anakin** : Text me when you land? :)

 **Padmé:** Unless I’m stopping Luke from trying to break into the cockpit so he can ask to fly the plane.

 **Anakin** : Yeah, I know the feeling.

 **Anakin** : Not the feeling of stopping a four-year-old of conquering an amazing feat.

 **Anakin** : But the feeling of being the four-year-old wanting to do the amazing feat.

 **Padmé:** I am never letting the two of you on a plane together.

“Whatcha doing?” Ashoka interrupted. “You’ve been glued to your phone for almost half an hour.”

“I’m playing a game,” Anakin replied distractedly. He lied, yes, but Ahsoka had been extremely annoying lately, obsessing over the fact that he and Padmé spent so much time talking over text. “Shouldn’t you be in bed already?”

“It’s six o’clock. Why would I be in bed?”

Wow, the date ended awkwardly earlier. “Then shouldn’t you be watching something on the Netflix account I pay for?”

“I was. Mamma Mia. Which, by the way, totally helped me win an argument with Obi-Wan. I mean, imagine twenty years from now, some girl shows up telling you she’s your daughter and she wants you to give her away. Aren’t you glad you dodged that bullet?”

Anakin chuckled. “Well, my daughter won’t have to ask two other men to do the same because she doesn’t know which one of them is her real father,” he pointed out. “Obi-Wan is still trying to dissuade me from this, it’s like he doesn’t know me at all.”

“Because he _sucks,”_ Ashoka said bluntly. “And he doesn’t like the idea that you’ve got kids, he’s too much of a dad friend. Doesn’t want to share the territory.”

“He’s concerned this is going to backfire on me. His part-time job since we met is making sure I don’t get myself into too much trouble. I am confident he’ll come around.”

“Yeah, right. He’s just as stubborn as you. Maybe even worse.”

Anakin shrugged. “We’ll see, won’t we?” He sighed. “Why don’t you choose some movie for us to see?”

“Are you going to ask her out?”

“No, the blind date was over before it even began. Why do you think I’m at home at _six?”_ Anakin made a face.

“I meant your baby mama.”

“Why would I ask my baby mama out?” Anakin asked slowly, fingers hovering over his phone as he saw the unread messages from Padmé.

“Because you’ve been texting her for two weeks straight?”

“Snips, that would be too complicated… wouldn’t it?”

“I mean, you were kind of thinking of establishing a branch on the East Coast anyway, right? And that’d make it easier to be in your kids’ lives.”

“I know, but I was thinking about throwing a romantic relationship into an already delicate situation.”

“Ugh, fine,” Ahsoka grumbled. “But you guys would seriously look so cute together.”

“Well, we already know we make good looking kids together.” He looked thoughtful. “What if I ask her out and she flats out turns me down because she doesn’t want to mix things up?”

Ahsoka leaned forward and snatched his phone out of his hands, scrolling up. “I don’t know if I know a nicer, smarter guy than you. And we both know you don’t mind that she has kids. Since, you know, they’re your kids too.”

“Hey!” He narrowed his eyes. “Don’t read that, it’s personal. And she deals with different people than me, I’m sure there are nicer, smarter guys in Washington too. Politicians, lawyers, public defenders… they seem more like her style, not me,” he made a face and snatched his phone back. “I’m just… a nerd.”

“I dunno, she seemed pretty flirty.”

“You’re reading too much into it. And you’re going to make me read too much into it too, so just stop. One step at a time.” He sighed. “Before someone gets hurt.”

 **Anakin** : Sorry. Lil’sis demanded some attention.

 **Anakin** : Are you done with packing?

 **Padmé:** Nearly. But I deeply regret ever buying them days of the week underwear.

 **Padmé:** You’ll never guess where I found the missing pairs.

 **Anakin** : Oh, now I’m curious.

 **Padmé:** The FREEZER.

 **Padmé:** On top of the ice cream.

 **Anakin** : Oh. My. God.

 **Anakin** : They are brilliant.

 **Padmé:** You’re going to enable them, aren’t you?

 **Anakin** : ...no.

 **Padmé:** You’re a liar.

 **Anakin** : :) Who gave you two beautiful troublemakers. :)

 **Anakin** : Eternally in debt to me.

 **Padmé:** God help us if either of them goes into politics.

 **Padmé** : I need to find some board game pieces now. If they can’t play Candyland with all the pieces, it’s going to be a painful plane ride.

 **Anakin** : Don’t you have the kids version of Monopoly?

 **Anakin** : Ahsoka and I love that game.

 **Anakin** : Well, I love that game.

 **Anakin** : …

 **Anakin** : She usually cries.

 **Padmé:** They’re not old enough yet.

 **Padmé:** Kids’ version is ages 5 and up.

 **Padmé:** And I am NOT giving them the opportunity to put the house in a permanent feud.

 **Padmé:** They’re very sore losers.

 **Anakin** : You will be the type of person that doesn’t let a 100-year-old play legos because they are up to 99 years old, aren’t you?

 **Padmé:** Why would a 100-year-old even be playing with Legos? Wouldn’t their arthritis and terrible eyesight make it nearly impossible?

 **Anakin** : Pfff, you Moms love the sore loser expression. Being competitive is a good thing.

 **Anakin** : Oh my God, Padmé :| Let the poor one hundred-year-old play with Legos.

 **Padmé:** They can play bingo like normal seniors.

“Oh my God, you’re already falling for her,” Ahsoka’s sharp laugh distracted him and when he looked up, he got hit in the face with a pillow. “You are _not_ understanding the goofy, lovey-dovey smile on your face, Skyguy. It’s adorable!”

He threw the pillow back and stood up. “Why did I ever let you crash with me? I’m going to my room,” he scowled as he jogged to his bedroom and closed the door, still hearing Ahsoka giggle in the background.

 **Anakin** : That’s a stereotype.

 **Anakin:** I didn’t think you would be that kind of person either...

 **Padmé:** Excuse you, I have been to more bingo nights and shuffleboard tournaments than I can count.

 **Anakin** : Your life sounds exciting xD

 **Padmé:** I value the seniors' vote.

 **Anakin** : When I’m one hundred, please let me play with Legos. I don’t want to have to bat you away with my cane.

 **Anakin** : My arthritis would complain then.

 **Padmé:** I’m older than you, I’ll probably be dead by the time you’re 100.

 **Anakin** : :|

 **Anakin** : Aren’t you a ray of sunshine?

 **Padmé:** I’m pragmatic.

 **Anakin** : Dementors are pragmatic.

 **Padmé:** I’m sorry, what Harry Potter books did YOU read? The Dementors are indiscriminate!

 **Anakin** : You’re such the Hermione of it all.

 **Padmé:** I take that as a compliment, Mr. Weasley.

 **Anakin** : Ah, see, I’m actually a Slytherin. At least, that was where Pottermore sorted me.

 **Padmé:** Why am I not surprised?

 **Anakin** : Green & Silver for life. You’re a Ravenclaw, aren’t you?

 **Padmé:** Hufflepuff, actually. Ravenclaw was too pretentious. Besides, Hufflepuffs are the best.

 **Anakin** : Far from me to underestimate a Hufflepuff.

 **Anakin** : I would still beat you at Quidditch though…

 **Padmé:** I would never play Quidditch. Nor would I let my kids. They’d get themselves killed.

 **Padmé:** It’s basically just football on brooms.

 **Anakin** : :O

 **Anakin** : :O :O :O :O

 **Anakin** : No Quidditch? Oh, I am not speaking with you anymore today. Nuh-uh, that was hurtful and just plain mean.

 **Padmé:** I was kidding.

 **Padmé:** But seriously, why didn’t all the players wear helmets?

 **Padmé:** A bludger could kill someone!

 **Anakin** : You overthink things.

 **Padmé:** Excuse me if I don’t want my kids getting a concussion! Or worse!

 **Anakin** : It’s a fact.

 **Anakin** : Those kids need me.

 **Padmé:** You know, people who don’t have kids think it’s sooooooo easy.

 **Padmé:** Then I let them babysit the twins, and they come crawling back to me in tears.

 **Anakin** : Are you trying to scare me of babysitting my own babies?

 **Padmé:** I’m telling you that it’s not all fun and games.

 **Anakin** : Don’t worry, I wouldn’t crawl to you in tears.

 **Anakin** : I would pretty much be leading the pack once you returned.

 **Anakin** : :D

 **Padmé:** Don’t be smug.

 **Padmé:** It’s horribly unattractive.

 **Padmé:** Doesn’t suit you at all.

 **Anakin** : :) :) :) :)

 **Anakin** : Everything suits me, Ms. Amidala.

 **Padmé:** No, it doesn’t, Mr. Skywalker.

 **Anakin** : Oh, the things I can show you…

 **Padmé:** And I think that’s my cue to say goodnight.

 **Anakin** : Sweet dreams.

 **Anakin** : Don’t forget to text me when you land tomorrow.

 **Padmé:** Ok. Goodnight.

“Wow, that’s cold,” he muttered staring at her last text. His fingers hovered the scene wondering if he should text something back. Maybe he had pushed her too far? Damn Ahsoka for getting inside her head.

 **Anakin** : Ok, bye…

 **Padmé:** [attaches pictures of the twins sleeping in their room]

 **Anakin** : Thank you :)

She didn’t reply. He sighed and set the phone aside, crossing his arms over his chest. Yes, he pushed too far. He was never listening to Ahsoka ever again.

* * *

 “Representative Amidala, are you okay?”

“Hmm? Oh, yeah,” Padmé mumbled, rubbing her eyes. The makeup artist shrieked, rushing to fix Padmé’s now smudged mascara. “I’m sorry, I just didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.”

“Twins keep you up?” Sabé asked dryly from her seat in the corner of the room.

“Not exactly,” Padmé shifted awkwardly in her chair. “Are they almost ready?”

“Dormé’s hounding them as we speak,” Sabé said. “Do you want to go over talking points again?”

“No, no, I’m fine.” Padmé glanced down at her phone. At the chain of texts Anakin had sent her.

 **Anakin** : Hey.

 **Anakin** : Do you know how annoying it is to have your little sister crash on your couch?

 **Anakin** : I wake up with her dancing to Single Ladies.

 **Anakin** : She’s a half decent singer but ugh, at 8 am everything sounds awful.

 **Anakin** : At least I get pancakes.

 **Anakin** : ...busy day, huh?

“You’re still texting _him_ , aren’t you?” Sabé asked exasperatedly. “Didn’t I advise you to end it? This isn’t wise, Padmé.”

“Sabé, I am entitled to a personal life. Which, by its very definition, is personal. I welcome your political advice, but you’re crossing a line.”

“This _thing_ relates to your professional life as well,” Sabé raised one eyebrow. “But fine, do things your way. Don’t come whining to me when all hell breaks loose.”

“I know what I’m doing!”

“Then why couldn’t you sleep last night?” Sabé taunted as the makeup artist gave a few final touches and left them alone.

“It… wasn’t texting,” Padmé mumbled.

“Oh? So what was it? Skype?”

“No, I went to bed at a reasonable hour.”

Sabé raised one eyebrow as she began putting everything together, like a puzzle. When it dawned on her, she made a disgusted face. “Oh, God, really?” Then she whispered harshly. “You had a _sex dream_ about your _donor_?”

“Look, it’s been a really long time, and my vibrator can only go so far!”

She actually laughed. “This is spiraling out of your control and you can’t even realize it.”

“Sabé, I am handling it.”

“If you say so,” Sabé shook her head.

 **Anakin** : I’m going to be in meetings all day.

 **Anakin** : I have a few major decisions to do so…

 **Anakin** : Talk to you later. Hope your day goes well.

 **Padmé:** Maybe later! The twins and I are doing a family profile interview today.

 **Padmé:** Feel free to watch if you can!

He didn’t reply. Padmé pursed her lips, then shut her phone off. “Alright, I’m ready. Let’s get the twins and get this started.”

“Mommy!” Luke and Leia ran into the dressing room. Leia spun around in her little red dress and blue sweater. “See how pretty? It’s like a cape!”

“It’s beautiful,” Padmé said, reaching over to smooth out some wrinkles. “Luke, your collar’s crooked.”

“I like it crooked,” Luke insisted, pulling the other edge of the black polo shirt askew. Padmé looked at Sabé for some kind of assistance.

“Girls don’t like it crooked,” Sabé cleared her throat and, with a smile, adjusted Luke’s collar. “Think about all those girls swooning over you, kiddo.”

“Ew!” Luke tweaked it back to being crooked.

“You do remember he’s four, right?” Padmé laughed.

“I have no idea how to do this, Padmé, you’re the Mom. You were always the Mom,” Sabé shrugged. “But…” she turned to look at Luke with a small smile. “What if your Dad is watching?” Sabe whispered. “Do you think he will like his handsome son with a crooked collar?”

Luke’s eyes widened. “Really? Really, Mommy? Leia, Daddy’s gonna watch us!”

Sabé raised her eyes to Padmé. “Is he, Mommy?” She chuckled.

“Who can say?” Padmé said, shrugging passively. “Come on, let’s go get our microphones so we can do this interview.

“It’s better safe than sorry, Luke,” Sabé winked and adjusted his collar again. “Let’s go. If you do this right, remember… I’m convincing your Mom to let you go to McDonalds’ for lunch.”

“McDonald's!” the twins gasped. “McDonald's! McDonald's! McDonald's! McDonald's!”

“Oh, no. Oh, no, no, no, no, no.” Padmé shook her head as she grabbed the twins’ hands. “We _might_ go to Friendly’s. But _not_ McDonald's.”

“I like Friendly’s,” Leia said.

“Me too!”

“We can go to Friendly’s if you two are _really_ good during the interview. That includes not talking about your dad. Got it?”

“Yes, Mommy,” they chorused.

“It’s not like they know anything, to be honest,” Sabé shrugged. Luke and Leia pouted at the comment.

“We’re gonna,” Leia said, the pout turning into a glower.

“Maybe,” Padmé amended. “Come on, let’s go.”

* * *

 

Shmi was pulling a meatloaf out of the oven when Anakin got home. “I saw Ms. Amidala on the news with the twins,” she said. “So I recorded the whole interview. I thought we could all watch together.”

Anakin smiled and kissed her cheek. “Thank you. I had a busy day and couldn’t take the time to watch it.”

“Are you already preparing things to open the branch on the East Coast?” Shmi asked, beaming at him.

“Ahsoka needs to stop telling you everything that happens at _Lightspeed_ ,” Anakin scowled.

“Oh, we’re just excited for you,” she replied warmly. “Besides, it’s a completely natural decision to want to be closer to your family.”

“You are my family as well, Mom.”

“I didn’t say you would get rid of me, young man,” Shmi chuckled.

Ahsoka entered the kitchen, stealing an apple from the fruit basket and jumped on top of the counter. “I think he and Padmé had a little fight. Also, the table is set.”

“Shut up, Snips.”

“What? Why? What happened, Ani?” Shmi asked, concerned as she finished their meal.

“Nothing happened! Ahsoka is just imagining things,” he threw a towel at his younger sister who easily caught it.

“He didn’t spend his whole day texting,” Ahsoka justified.

“I had meetings all day. You know, work? The things you should also be doing?”

“And,” she went on as if he hadn’t spoken. “He kept watching his phone to see if he had received anything and the look of pure disappointment was pitiful, big brother.”

Anakin threw a piece of fruit at her and Ahsoka jumped out of the counter to dodge it.

“Stop it, you two,” Shmi admonished softly. “But seriously, Ani, did something happen?”

“I think I might have been too forward last night after Ahsoka filled my mind with misleading ideas and I don’t think Padmé liked it,” he explained, shrugging. “So I’m just hoping we can go back to texting normally so I can amend my mistakes.”

“Or she had just a busy day as you did,” Shmi pointed out. “You don’t have to think the worst case scenario every time, sweetheart.”

He sighed and shrugged. “Let’s just have dinner. I’m starving!”

Once dinner was over, Shmi shooed them into the family room so they could watch the interview and Anakin had to admit that he was as eager as his mother. He sat in the armchair while his mother and sister sat on the couch and Shmi grabbed the remote.

“I can’t wait until I am actually able to meet my grandbabies, but… I guess this will have to do for now,” Shmi said and Anakin rolled his eyes as she pressed play. Padmé sat opposite the reporter, wearing an immaculate purple suit with one twin on either side of her.

“We’re back with Representative Padmé Amidala, who seems to be on her way to the Senate, if the polls are any indication.”

“Mommy’s going to win!” Luke spoke so loudly it bordered on shouting. “‘Cause she’s the bestest polimatician ever!” Leia shushed him.

“He reminds me of someone,” Shmi grinned and winked at Anakin, who just laughed at his son’s eagerness.

“It’s like you two used a copy machine to make yourself mini-mes,” Ahsoka snorted. “By the way, polimatician is my new favorite word.”

The interviewer laughed. “These are your children?”

“Yes, this is Luke and Leia. They’re supposed to be behaving, but apparently, we have different definitions of what that means,” Padmé laughed. “Say hi to Miss Anya.”

“Hi,” Leia said, holding out a little hand to shake. “I’m Leia. I’m the good one.” Luke stuck out his tongue.

“Is that true?” Miss Anya asked.

“They take turns being the evil twin,” Padmé told the reporter. “I guess it’s Luke’s turn today.”

“Oh my God, they’re irresistible,” Ahsoka gushed and hugged a pillow close to her chest.

“Should I be worried?”

“Oh, goodness, no. They’re usually very well behaved. They’re very popular at Washington holiday parties,” Padmé answered. “Sometimes, I consider them my not-so-secret weapon.”

“You’ve been involved in a lot of family-focused legislation since you were first elected,” Anya went on.

“Yes, well, that’s in part because of my experiences as a single mother. I know that I’ve been very lucky to come from a life and a family that has supported me so completely, and I wanted to make it easier for other parents who weren’t afforded the same privileges I have.”

“Why did you choose to be a single mother? How did this decision come to be?”

“Honestly, I think there was this feeling that a lot of the guys I dated were intimidated by my ambition,” Padmé said, putting an arm around Luke’s shoulders. “I always knew that I wanted to be a mother, but I also knew that I wanted to get into public service as soon as possible. It took a couple of breakups for me to realize that there was a certain pressure for me to prioritize one or the other, career or marriage, and single parenthood let me circumvent that. Despite other people’s best efforts to push me down for that choice.”

“It was a brave choice and just by looking at these two little darlings, you chose very well.”

“I can’t take all the credit, their grandparents were very helpful in those early days, and we’ve got a great nanny and great daycare in DC.”

“And sometimes we stay with Mrs. Breha,” Leia added.

“That would be Senator Organa’s wife?”

“Yes, she just adores them. She’s the one who started Leia’s bun phase.” Padmé indicated the little girl’s dual buns covering her ears.

“Maybe in a few months they can say Daddy is their favorite person to spend time with,” Ahsoka teased and poked Anakin’s side.

“Sshh, let me hear,” Anakin slapped her hand away, too interested in the interview to tear his eyes from the screen.

“She’s also helping Mommy plan our birthday party,” Luke quipped.

“How many years old are you turning?” Anya asked sweetly.

“A whole hand,” Luke said proudly, displaying five little fingers.

“Very impressive. Now, Representative Amidala, do you mind if we talk about your upcoming race?”

“Not at all.” But as Padmé said it, she grimaced slightly.

“Your opponent is former governor Sheev Palpatine. He’s called you inexperienced and idealistic.”

“That’s not a question, Anya. What is it you want to ask me?”

“He’s an old fool,” Shmi scoffed. “She is much better than he ever was.”

“How do you respond to his criticism?”

“I’ve been serving in the House for six years, I studied Constitutional law at Harvard Law and did my undergrad work there in psychology and pre-law. I’ve been involved in community outreach since I was a six-year-old Girl Scout. I think that should speak to my alleged lack of experience. As for being idealistic, I take that as a compliment. And in the end, it’s not up to him, it’s up to the people of Massachusetts. If he wants their votes, he should focus on making life better for them, not attacking my character.”

“Wow, she’s good,” Ashoka whistled.

“She has more life experience under her belt than I do,” Anakin said with wide eyes. “She has done so many things already and she’s on her way to becoming the youngest and the first female President.”

“She’s also older than you, Ani, so of course she has more experience,” Shmi pointed out.

“Still, it’s… a bit difficult to meet her standards,” he shrugged and leaned back, sinking into his seat.

“Are you two planning debates?”

“Our campaigns are coordinating on that. I’m loath to debate on a school night.”

“We wanna watch Mommy win!” Leia chirped.

“What changes are you looking forward to making if you are elected Senator?”

“I think the biggest one I want to try for is instituting term limits for all branches of government. It honestly appalls me how much the Supreme Court has become politicized and how complicit unlimited terms can make the average voter,” Padmé answered. “But I also want to be looking to reforming our education system.”

“Like any good mother, we always look to the education system closely, don’t we? What changes would you propose?”

“Well, the big one there is funding. I think if the public education in this country were better funded, if teachers were paid a living wage that didn’t require them to take additional jobs, that would be an immediate improvement. Massachusetts ranks as the best state in the nation for education, and even then, there is a major disparity from town to town. We need to do better for our children.”

“Will the twins attend public or private school?”

“We’re debating what to do. This is one of the hurdles that comes with being a single parent. I can’t move them back and forth between Washington and Massachusetts. Right now, the plan is to have them live with their grandparents, or their aunt and uncle, and attend the Edward W Brooke Charter School.”

“This is something you might want to help her with,” Shmi said. “Children’s education is very important.”

“Mom, I’m going to meet them in two weeks, but I’m not going to start shouting decisions around.”

“Yes, but when you open the Lightspeed branch at East Coast, they don’t have to live with their grandparents. They can be with you,” Ahsoka said softly. “It would be a nice way to make up for lost time.”

“That will be Padmé’s decision. Remember, I don’t have any parental rights over the twins.”

“But if you’re dating her, you could,” Ahsoka hummed.

“Ahsoka,” Shmi said warningly. Anakin made a face and sunken lower in his seat.

“I’m just scared he’s...well, getting scared,” Ahsoka whispered to her mother.

“I’ve been drafting legislation to submit, should I make it to the Senate.”

“And what plans do you have if you lose the election?”

“I’d rather not say at this point, Anya. Right now, I’m focusing my energy on the election. I will still have a few months left in the House, regardless of the outcome.”

“ _And_ our birthday party,” Leia added with a smug smile.

“ _And_ our birthday gift,” Luke quipped from his side.

“Yes, and these two little troublemakers. Who are _not_ getting to go to Friendly’s if they keep interrupting.”

“Aww,” they chorused.

“Well, Representative Amidala, it was good to have you with us.”

“Thank you for having us. Kids, say thank you.”

“Thank you,” Luke and Leia said in unison.

“It was our pleasure.”

“You should tell her what you thought of the interview,” Ahsoka quipped.

“I should go home now,” Anakin replied and stood up, stretching. “Thanks for dinner, Mom,” he leaned down and kissed his mother’s forehead. “You’re crashing here tonight, Snips?”

“At least she feeds me,” his sister stuck her tongue out. “You’ll give me your apartment if you end up moving to the East Coast, right?”

“Goodnight, Ahsoka!” Anakin shook his head and grabbed his jacket and keys.

* * *

Anakin lay in bed, phone in his hands and wondered if he should say something. It was past eleven in LA, so she was most likely asleep and he didn’t want to wake her up. He fears he pushed her boundaries too far, after all, it’s not like they have known each other for very long but he already feels like he has known her all of his life and that is what scares him the most. He’s most likely projecting, right? Because she is the twins’ mother and he’s already so in love with them? He reads “Feel free to watch if you can!” over and over again and decides to type an answer, even if she only reads it in the morning.

 **Anakin** : I saw the interview. You three were spectacular! I’m sure Palpatine has nothing on you!

There. It was simple. It was nice. It was supportive.

 **Padmé:** Thank you!! I’m guessing you skipped the boring policy parts, right? ;)

 **Anakin** : You’re still awake! I thought you would only read the message tomorrow.

 **Anakin** : No, I watched the whole thing.

He thought about adding ‘you make politics interesting’ but he deleted the message before he sent it.

 **Padmé:** I was asleep. Then I woke up and couldn’t get back to sleep.

 **Anakin** : It was not my message, was it? I’m sorry, I was debating if I should text you now or in the morning…

 **Padmé:** No, no. Leia has a stomach bug.

 **Anakin** : :(

 **Anakin** : Is she better?

 **Padmé:** I’m taking her to the doctor in the morning, but I had to move her into the guest room and Luke onto the pullout couch so that we can disinfect their room tomorrow.

 **Anakin** : Was it the Friendly’s food? That’s why McDonald's is better, you know.

 **Anakin** : But I am sorry she’s feeling sick and tell me something after you leave the doctor, okay?

 **Padmé:** McDonald’s is garbage every time, Friendly’s is USUALLY fine.

 **Padmé:** Also, their ice cream is delicious.

 **Padmé:** I think it might have been something from the craft services table at the tv studio

 **Padmé:** But I’ll keep you posted.

 **Padmé:** Leia’s determined to be better by the party.

 **Anakin** : Good. :)

The phone vibrated in his hand. She was calling. He was startled and a sudden rush of adrenaline went through him as he thought about taking the call or not. It would be weird not to take it, he was just speaking with her via text.

“Hi,” he greeted, leaning back against his pillows.

“Hi,” she said, sounding a little breathless. “Sorry, it’s just that I need to talk to a person right now.”

“Okay?” He frowned.

“I’m really tired right now. I was holding Leia’s hair back while she puked and she was sobbing about how she thought she was going to die.”

“Poor thing, she must be feeling awful. Being sick is not pleasant by any standards.”

“It’s even worse to have Luke watching it because now he’s paranoid that _he’s_ going to get sick too.” Padmé sighed. “I didn’t want to call my family, they’re all sleeping.”

“I’m sorry. I wish I could be there to help,” he sighed. “It can’t be easy handling them both in these situations.”

“I do my best. So, do you mind if we try to plan out your visit a little more, as long as I’m up?”

“Yes, if that’s what you want.” He stood up a little straighter. “I already bought my ticket and booked the hotel from Friday to Sunday. I arrive Friday morning and I’m leaving on the last flight on Sunday.”

“Okay, I could have them skip daycare on Friday if you want to hang out with them,” she offered.

“I don’t want to change things too much. I’m a big change myself, I don’t want to disrupt anything else,” he said. “But it would be nice to spend time with them. You know, for privacy reasons, we shouldn’t hang out in a public restaurant.”

“I have a private room booked for us on Friday,” Padmé reassured him. “Their party is on Saturday afternoon, but that’s only three hours.”

“If we want to keep this close to the vest, I don’t think I should go. I’m actually using Saturday for a couple of meetings but if you aren’t tired of me yet by then, just let me know at what time do I need to be free and I won’t book anything else,” he half-smiled.

“I’d say take some time to see the Museum of Science. Or did you do that while you were at MIT?”

“I already did that.”

“Too bad, the twins love it.”

“I guess one more time couldn’t hurt,” he smiled.

“Well, then I guess that could be what we do on Sunday.”

“Then, do you want to have dinner with me on Saturday?” He blurted out and almost immediately, regretted it. What happened to keeping boundaries? He was an idiot.

There was a long pause, then she said, “just the two of us?”

“Yes,” he cringed. “But, you know what, we don’t have to do that. Nevermind. You don’t have to answer,”

“No, I’d like to.”

“Really?” He sounded awfully surprised.

“Yes, really.”

“Then I’ll take care of booking us a table at the hotel’s restaurant,” he smiled.

“Or we could order room service.”

“If that’s what you prefer, I don’t have anything against it.”

“I mean, it’s less public,” she pointed out. “But I don’t mind eating at the restaurant if you prefer.”

“Room service will be perfect. We can speak without the fear of waking up the next morning with TMZ’s exclusive story,” he snorted. “I hope the twins don’t get jealous, though. Of me stealing their mother for the night.”

“I’ll tell them they can have a sleepover at the Organas’ hotel room.”

“Perfect,” he grinned. “So, how do you want to do things on Friday? How do I enter the scene? What do I say, really?”

“Um...Well…” She hesitated. “I mean, we could get to the restaurant before you, and then I can text you to come in… They’re smart kids, I think they’re going to take one look at you and know who you are.”

“Aren’t you using the pictures?” He asked.

“I was, but then you said you were coming.”

“You could still use them and then I pop up behind them,” he suggested. “It would be cute to see their reactions.”

“Or that would scare them,” she laughed. “Maybe I show them the photos and then you come through the door. Wait at the bar for me to text you?”

“Sounds like a good idea. But I still don’t know what to tell them,” he chuckled. “Luke, Leia, I am your father?”

“Do you have any idea how corny that sounds?”

“That’s exactly why I need your help.”

“Why don’t you just start with ‘hi,’ and let them have the satisfaction of working it out? They like feeling smart.”

“You’re just looking for a chance of seeing me helpless,” he snorted.

“I’m offended by that aspersion!” she gasped.

He laughed. “I can’t believe we’re just two weeks away,” he whispered.

“Neither can I. Five years old. Kindergarten. Oh, I’m going to miss them so much,” she sighed. “If it weren’t for the fact that Sheev Palpatine’s policies haven’t evolved since he was governor ten years ago, I’d almost want to lose this election.”

“And forfeit becoming the next President? That would be unfair for the nation.”

“Hey, I said almost,” she laughed.

“I hope allowing me into your life won’t hurt your way to the White House,” he said. “Once it’s known… it’s unsure of how people are going to react.”

“I’ll figure it out. My chief aide has been worrying about it since I went to meet you.”

“You should introduce her to my lawyer.”

“Oh, yeah?” she laughed. “And why is that?”

“He basically thinks you’ll be the death of me,” he chuckled. “Not in the literate sense, of course, but he fears that I’m over my head in this subject and I should let it play out. Like it was a _Mamma Mia_ movie or something, where, in twenty-something years, my daughter seeks me out to walk her down the aisle.”

“I would hope I’m raising my daughter well enough to know that she doesn’t need to rely on ancient patriarchal expectations,” Padmé huffed. “And that part of _Mamma Mia_ always bugged me.”

“Padmé, he thinks I’m not up to the challenge. To be a father. To move my life between two states. To be part of _your_ life,” he sighed.

“Well, that’s highly improper. If you ask me, you need a new lawyer. I think the one you’ve got is too close to you to be objective.”

“He worries. Obi-Wan is the closest thing I have to a father. He’s very skeptical but I know he’ll come around.”

“Exactly why he shouldn’t be your lawyer.”

“There’s no one I trust most,” he sighed. “You should rest, Padmé, you had a long day.”

“I’m just saying, it’s like how doctors shouldn’t treat family members. Emotions compromise the situation. You trust him, but his judgment is compromised because he sees you as more than a client!”

“I can handle Obi-Wan,” he assured her. “Keep me updated on Leia, please?”

“Of course. We’ll see you in two weeks.”

“I can’t wait. Sleep well.”

“Good night.”

As Anakin hung up the phone, he allowed himself a long moment of satisfaction. Not only was he going to meet his children, but he had a date with Padmé. It was shaping up to be an amazing weekend and he couldn’t wait.


	3. Chapter 3

“Do you think they’ll let us cook the pasta ourselves?”

“Oh, definitely not.” Padmé laughed, helping Luke scoop pasta into his bowl before doing the same for Leia. “You need to be specially trained to do that.”

Leia huffed. “No fair.”

“Yes, fair.” Padmé sighed. “Come on, you need to pick a flavor too, or I’m going to pick for you. And include _lots_ of broccoli.” Her daughter’s face turned white as she immediately grabbed a bowl from the Italian section. “That’s what I thought.”

“Mommy, are you finally telling us about Daddy?” Luke asked. “It’s our birthday! You promised!” Then he hit her with those big, blue eyes and pouty lips.

“Did you find him?” Leia asked softly as she twirled her fork in the pasta.

“We’ll talk about that when we get back to the dining room,” Padmé scolded softly. “There are other people here. Let’s get our food cooked.”

“Me first!” Luke shouted, running towards the giant grill in the center of the dining room.

“No, me!” Leia called, hurrying after him. Padmé sighed and finished cobbling together her own bowl of Chinese food before following the twins.

“Miss Padmé!” A very tall, gangly black man waved from behind the grill. “Good to see you!”

“Oh, hi, Jar-Jar, I didn’t know you were working tonight,” Padmé smiled, passing over her bowl.

“Boss called at the last minute and asked me to fill in,” Jar-Jar explained. “Happy birthday to the twins. Where are they?”

“We’re down here!” Leia said, grabbing at the railing to hop up and get a better view.

“Careful, it’s hot!” Padmé warned, taking the bowls from them. “Jar-Jar, can you do that, um—” She didn’t even finish before Jar-Jar started flipping and juggling his spatulas while the twins and other diners applauded.

“Throw some in my mouth!” Luke begged.

“You know I’m not allowed to do that,” Jar-Jar laughed. “Unless you want me to get fired.”

“Aww, okay.” Luke sighed, holding out his bowl so that Jar-Jar could scoop the now-cooked pasta inside. Leia followed suit.

“Thanks, Jar-Jar,” she said, smirking at her brother. “You gotta say it too.”

“I was gonna!”

“Kids, hush,” Padmé scolded, collecting her own food. “Come on, your birthday treat is waiting.”

“Bye, Jar-Jar! Thank you!” The twins waved and hurried back towards the private dining room while Padmé slipped her phone out of her pocket.

 **Padmé:** I’m taking them back to eat and show them the photos. You should come get your food, then come in once it’s ready. Private room 3.

 **Anakin** : Oh God, it’s really happening. I don’t want to drink to calm my nerves, because that would be bad.

 **Anakin** : But I’m REALLY nervous.

 **Anakin** : This is like… having a really bad anxiety attack.

 **Anakin** : I can’t breathe, much less eat.

 **Padmé:** It’ll be fine.

 **Padmé:** Trust me.

 **Anakin** : I am an anxiety bubble.

 **Anakin** : I’m pretty sure I’m going to collapse.

 **Padmé:** Hold your hand in front of your face and count to ten.

 **Padmé:** That’s how I get the kids un-dizzy

 **Anakin** : ...I’m 26.

 **Anakin** : Just hurry.

 **Anakin** : Before all they meet is a hysterical version of their father.

 **Padmé:** I’m going!

“Mommy, who are you texting?” Luke asked as Padmé closed the dining room door.

“Just some last minute party details,” Padmé lied easily, sitting down at the table and putting her phone back. “Now, both of you close your eyes and hold out your hands.” The twins shared a suspicious glance but shrugged and did as they were told, their tiny hands stretched in front of them and eyes shut tight. Padmé took two of the photos Anakin had given her and placed one in the hand of each twin. “Okay, open.”

Both twins opened their eyes and looked at the picture, their eyes widened as they gasped and glance at each other before back to the photo.

“Mommy, is he…?” Leia started with a gleeful smile.

“It’s Daddy, isn’t it?” Luke shrieked. “I look like him, don’t I? Don’t I, Mommy?”

“Aw, I don’t,” Leia pouted as she gripped the picture tighter between her hands.

“Sure you do,” Padmé reached out and tweaked her nose. “You didn’t get that from me.”

Leia smiled happily as she studied the picture carefully. “Did you meet him?”

“Did you tell him about us?” Luke asked after his sister.

“Yes, and yes,” Padmé said, taking a bite of her dinner.

“And?” Luke pressed. “Mommy!!”

“Tell us!” they chorused.

“Was he happy?”

“Does he want to meet us?”

“Can we meet him?”

“Slow down, one at a time!”

Luke and Leia got quiet as they watched the photos they had and switched them.

“Is he nice?” Leia asked biting her lip.

“How is he like?” Luke quipped. “Was he… mad?”

“He’s very nice. He lives in California, and no, he wasn’t mad, he was,” Padmé paused, searching for the right word. “Startled.”

“What does that mean?” Leia frowned.

“He lives surrounded by sand,” Luke mumbled fearfully.

“Well, he’d kind of forgotten that he was a donor, honey. And not all of California is sand, Luke.”

“Oh, and what did he say? Did you show him our picture?” Leia asked. “Was it a good picture?”

“I showed him the holiday card one.”

“That's a good one. Right, Leia?” Luke grinned.

Leia pursed her lips. “Do we have any siblings? Or a stepmother?”

“No, he’s not married. Or dating anyone.” Padmé reached into her pocket and fumbled for her phone.

“Good,” Leia smiled, relieved.

“Does he…” Luke glanced at his Mom before looking at the bowl of pasta. “Does he want to be our Daddy?”

“I don’t know.” Padmé managed to look down and send the word **NOW** to Anakin. “I’m not a mind reader, honey. Only he can say for sure.”

“I don't know, don't I need to get approved first?” Anakin questioned from the Room’s entry as he had been right outside the door shamelessly eavesdropping on the conversation. He never felt more nervous in his entire life.

Leia dropped her fork. Luke’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped. Padmé smiled and opened the door for him. “Happy birthday.”

“I keep thinking your Mom will drop a Daddy 101 test on me,” he smiled as he looked at the two shocked children. They were incredibly perfect. Pictures could never do them justice and he had studied them all for hours. “Did I break them?” He turned to Padme with a nervous smile.

“Luke? Leia?” Padmé leaned in worriedly.

“He's here,” Luke whispered to Leia.

“My astral projection techniques are improving then,” Anakin replied cheekily.

“Anakin, that’s not funny.”

Leia and Luke laughed and Anakin just threw a triumphant look at Padme.

“Do you think I can get a hug from the birthday twins?” Anakin asked crouching down to be more at their height. He could understand they were nervous, maybe even shy, so, as much as it pained him because he had no idea what to do, he had to be the grown up and break the ice. There was a long pause, then Luke burst out of his chair and flung his arms around Anakin’s neck.

“You’re real!” he gasped.

Anakin laughed and hugged him back, having never experienced such a warm and wonder filled hug.

“I am. Just like you are,” he replied. “And I'm very happy to meet you.”

“I’m Luke,” he told him. “I’m the oldest.”

“I know, your Mom already told me everything about you,” he chuckled. “I'm Anakin, by the way, I don't think I told you that.”

“ _Everything_?” Leia raised an eyebrow.

“Leia, it’s our dad!” Luke hissed.

“She told me as much as she could, but there are some things only you two can tell me,” Anakin said calmly, with a warm smile. “For example, she told me Luke doesn't like sand and you both don't like the feel of the grass.”

“It tickles and itches,” Leia said matter of factly. “Anyone who likes grass is dumb.”

“I completely agree,” he stage-whispered.

“How long are you here?” She asked.

“Long?” Anakin asked, confused. He didn't speak the children’s language, he was doomed.

“I think she wants to know how long you plan to be in Boston,” Padmé offered. “Leia’s very direct.”

 _Of course. I’m overreacting. God!_ “Right,” he stood up straighter and ran his fingers through Luke’s wavy and soft blonde hair. He had won one twin over, at least. “I’m staying for the weekend and then… should I be invited back, I can return for another weekend, or a week.”

Leia slid down from her chair and walked over, tugging at Anakin’s shirt until he bent down again. “Do you do Christmas?” she whispered.

“Yes, every year,” he whispered back with a smile. “It’s a Skywalker family tradition. We all get together for dinner on Christmas’ Eve, stay up all night watching movies and after we go to bed, Santa comes and leaves our gifts so we can open them during breakfast next morning.”

Leia gasped. “That’s so cool. We don’t do Christmas at all.”

“Because we do Hanukkah!” Padmé said indignantly. “Don’t be so dramatic.”

Anakin laughed. “I bet Hanukkah is just as amazing as Christmas is.”

“I’m _really_ good at dreidel,” Luke said proudly. “I win all the time.”

“You’re going to have to teach me, because I don’t know any Jewish traditions,” Anakin grinned.

“You mean, you’d come back for Hanukkah?” Luke asked excitedly.

“I think I’m starving,” Anakin replied because suddenly, he didn’t know if he should answer. He wanted to say yes, but he couldn’t do it without speaking with Padmé first. “What do you two recommend?”

“Mac and Cheese!”

“Italian!”

“It’s self-serve,” Padmé pointed out. “Be adventurous.”

“Then I will be right back,” he stood up again. “Save me a seat?” He asked the twins.

“Yes!” The twins chorused and Anakin smiled at them.

Before leaving the room, he winked at Padmé and as he closed the door behind him, the twins were rushing to their mother’s side, hugging her midsection and chanting “thank you, thank you” over and over again.

“Okay, easy,” Padmé smoothed back their hair. “I’m glad you’re happy, but there need to be some boundaries. This is all really new to Anakin, and he might not be ready yet for the whole world to know he’s your dad. It’s like he has a secret identity.”

Leia gasped. “Is he Captain America?”

“Or a spy? Like a spy identity?” Luke beamed.

“Yes, like that,” Padmé confirmed. “So people would start wondering why he keeps coming to visit us if he came too often.”

“Awww,” Leia sighed. “Well, what if we went to his Christmas?”

“Yes, Mommy, can we do Christmas this year? With Daddy?” Luke begged.

“Maybe. That’s up to him.”

“If he can’t visit us all the time, how will we spend time with him, then?” Luke asked, frowning. “We don’t have to tell people he’s our Daddy.”

“He looks like you, dummy,” Leia pointed out. “People aren’t stupid.”

“You’re stupid,” her brother retaliated in a whisper and squinted glare.

“I started reading before you!” Leia snapped.

“Hey!” Padmé snapped her fingers. “Quit fighting. I raised you better than this.”

“She keeps making fun of me!” Luke whined.

“He keeps making it easy,” Leia countered.

“No more fighting from either of you or there won’t be any dessert, do you understand?”

“See what you do?” Leia grumbled to her brother and Luke shoved her as he returned to his seat with a scowl. “I can get dessert right? He’s the one acting like a baby!”

“No. If  _either_ of you misbehaves again, _neither_ of you gets dessert. This isn’t a request or a negotiation, it’s an executive order. Do you understand?”

Anakin walked through the door with a bowl of pasta right on cue and remained rooted to the spot. “I don’t know why, but I feel grounded,” he joked. “I understand. If it works for something?”

“They don’t get dessert if they fight,” Padmé explained.

“Oh, and what were you fighting about?” Anakin asked as he walked over to the table to occupy the seat next to Padmé’s. “Can I know?”

“Leia’s mean!” Luke shouted, crossing his arms over his chest.

“Luke’s dumb,” Leia countered.

“ _Hey,”_ Padmé said warningly before looking at Anakin. “I was explaining to them about keeping you a secret, and Leia rather rudely pointed out that you and Luke look alike, so that would tip people off. And then the bickering and insults just went back and forth.”

“I only said it ‘cause Luke didn’t get it,” complained Leia.

“Ah, so it’s the classic sibling versus sibling syndrome,” Anakin chuckled and faced the twins directly. “It’s not nice to fight with your brother. Or with your sister. Even if sometimes she’s rude because she’s very direct. Or that he’s a bit more soft-spoken. I have a younger sister and we used to fight a lot. My Mom would not know what to do with us,” he explained as he began twirling the pasta with his fork. “So, one time, she let us go at it and you know what happened?” He asked as he took the fork to his mouth and chewed slowly.

The twins shook their head negatively.

“Well, I hurt her. I said something that wasn’t very nice… actually, it was very hurtful, and she retaliated by breaking my favorite toy. Then she cried.”

“Because you hurt her?” Luke asked softly.

“No, because she hurt me when she broke my favorite toy and she never wanted to hurt me. Then I cried because I realized I had been incredibly mean and it was then we promised our Mom _not_ to fight again,” he concluded with a smile. “She took us out for ice cream and we only playfully tease each other. The lesson is that… you shouldn’t fight, because you’ll hurt one another and no one is going to be your best friend, your confidant, more than your sibling. Trust me. Even if they can be annoying sometimes.”

“‘M sorry, Luke,” Leia mumbled.

“It’s okay, I’m sorry too,” Luke beamed.

“I think you might be magic,” Padmé marveled. “That was impressive.”

“I am a kid whisperer.” Just like Luke, he beamed at Padmé, proud of himself. “Besides, when you’re speaking from experience, it’s easy to pass on a lesson. Ahsoka and I were like this all the time.”

“Mommy has a sister too,” Leia pointed out. “But Aunt Sola’s older.”

“But that’s good, because then you have cousins, right?” Anakin asked.

“Only girls,” Luke sulked. “I hate being the only boy.”

“Ah, but the beauty of being the only boy is that you are the favorite grandson and favorite nephew,” Anakin winked. “Also, you get to learn everything about girls and one day, much later, it will come in handy. You’ll see.”

“Ew!” Luke made a face. Leia made a fist like she was about to hit him, then bit down on it.

“It’s okay, all girls but Mommy and your sister have cooties and that’s perfectly fine,” Anakin reassured him. “I’m sure your Mom doesn’t mind.”

“Considering that they’re _five_? Yes. I’d be glad not to talk about this again for another ten years!”

Anakin laughed. “Ten years is still a long time.”

“Do we have cousins from your side?” Leia asked.

“Oh no, Ahsoka is only twenty and becoming a Mom is the furthest thing from her mind,” he explained. “She is, however, very obsessed with becoming an Aunt. Know any kids in need of a fun, crazy Aunt who will, most likely, always give you ice cream before dinner?”

“Me!” the twins chorused, and Padmé groaned.

“Oh look, they’re available.”

“I really have to veto that ice cream proposition.”

“I really don’t think you know Ahsoka,” Anakin snickered. “Once you do, you’ll see what I mean.”

“Do we have a grandmother? And a grandfather?” Luke asked, swinging his legs and twirling the remaining of the pasta around in his fork.

“Well, you have a grandmother,” Anakin answered. “She’s… the best. Honestly, the best. But no grandfather, I’m sorry,”

“Did he die?” Leia whispered. “Like… like Grandma Jobal’s Mommy did?”

“No, honey, I… I never met him, so I don’t really know,” Anakin answered apologetically.

“So you’re like us?” Luke guessed. “That’s so cool!”

“You were like me, now you’re not anymore,” Anakin pointed out.

“Because now we know our Daddy. You.” Leia said.

“Yes, exactly,” Anakin beamed.

“Did you wish it for your birthday?” Luke suggested. “Because all Leia and I wanted was to have a Dad and it came true. You’re here.”

“I think you might be the wish fairy’s favorite kids,” Anakin staged whispered. “Not all kids can get a Dad or a Mom for their birthday, so you are really, really lucky.”

“The kids were hoping that maybe they could experience a Skywalker Christmas this year,” Padmé said in between bites of her dinner. “Do you have any thoughts on the matter?”

“My Mom would love to host it, but it’s really your decision,” Anakin replied carefully. “I would like passing the tradition onto them and having them experience Christmas in our house, if that’s something that you feel it’s appropriate.”

“I certainly don’t want to deny them the opportunity, but it would take quite a bit of planning. We’re usually in Washington around the holidays.”

“The holidays are nearly four months away, who knows where we will be?” Anakin shrugged and sipped on his water. “But I agree it’s something that we have to plan.”

“Did you want kids?” Leia blurted out. “Some people don’t.”

“I am not those people,” Anakin replied. “I always wanted to be a Dad.”

“Now you are,” Luke pointed out. “Right?”

“Five years late, but yes,” Anakin chuckled awkwardly.

“We still have a _lot_ to grow up, so you’re still on time,” Leia said with a very reassuring manner.

“I’m super not grown up!” Luke added helpfully.

“Plus Mommy has a lot of photos so you can catch up,” Leia quipped.”That’s if… you want to, ‘course. Mommy says we’re not supposed to startle you.”

“Did she now?” He asked amused, turning around to face Padmé.

“This is all new for you, I wanted to make sure we’re going at a reasonable pace,” she said with a shrug.

“Thank you. This _is_ reasonable,” he covered her hand with his and squeezed for a few moments. Her cheeks flushed pink.

“Well, on the subject of _un_ -reasonable things, I think you mentioned there were going to be presents?”

“Why you think they are unreasonable, I have no idea,” Anakin chuckled mysteriously. “But yes, I have birthday gifts.”

“Where?” Luke looked below their table and frowned. “Where are they?”

“Did you bring a bag?” Leia asked. “Can we see?”

“They are actually in your house. They were too big for me to bring them to the restaurant,” Anakin replied.

The twins’ eyes widened in delight. “Oh, boy,” Padmé sighed.

“It’s one gift for both of you to share and two smaller gifts, one for each of you. And I really hope you like your joined gift. It is very personal to me as well,” Anakin explained.

“Can we see them now?” Leia asked eagerly.

“You haven’t finished dinner or started dessert, do you really want to skip cake?” Padmé pointed with a raised eyebrow.

“No, we won’t skip cake,” Anakin replied. “Will we, kids? My gifts are cool, but not skip dessert kind of cool!”

Luke immediately started wolfing down his macaroni and cheese and Padmé caught his wrist. “Slow down, or you’ll give yourself a stomach ache.”

“Or stomach flu,” Leia added. “I got that a couple weeks ago. It _really_ hurt.”

“Your Mommy told me you were really sick,” he said. “Being sick sucks and we don’t want that, so we are going to eat at a _normal_ pace and then we’ll get cake. Also, what sort of cake are we having?”

“Angel food,” Padmé said. “I get it for them every year from a local bakery.”

“It’s so fluffy and sweet, we love it,” Luke said eagerly. “Do you like angel food cake, Daddy?”

“I tried because last week I discovered it was your Mom’s favorite and I thought I could give it a try and you’re right,” but he turned to Padmé, a mysterious glint in his eyes. “It’s fluffy and sweet.”

“It’s their favorite, not mine,” Padmé said.

He gasped. “I can’t believe you lied to me.”

“You asked me what the family favorite was, and democratically speaking, they outvoted me!” Padmé protested, flushing pink.

“So what is _your_ favorite cake? You know what, I feel cheated now,” he pouted and sipped on his drink, the twins giggled as they finished their meal.

“Mommy likes red velvet,” Leia blurted out. “We don’t. But we only have to eat it on her birthday.”

“You never _have_ to eat cake, and you always scrape off the frosting and just eat that,” Padmé chided.

“Red velvet?” Anakin questioned. “Do you know that’s...that’s the only cake I can actually bake?” He laughed.

“What makes red velvet so different from any other cake mix?” she teased.

“My special recipe. But fine, if it’s so mainstream, I’ll never bake it for you,” he shrugged.

“Probably a good idea, if it’s as good as you say it is, I’d probably get fat.”

“Yes, so I should really never bake for you,” he lifted his shoulders. “But I’ll learn how to do angel cake. Just for you two,” he turned to the twins with a grin. “Then we won’t give Mommy because we don’t want her to be fat,” Anakin stage whispered.

“I can hear you, you know.”

“You’re supposed to,” he said cheekily. “I will only cook and bake for the ones who truly appreciate it.”

“Well, then, I guess you’re never going to get to taste my cooking or baking either.”

“At least she won’t burn down the kitchen,” Luke quipped and Leia snickered. “It’s what Aunt Sola says.”

“It was one time and I was _eight!_ ” Padmé groaned. “She will never let it go.”

“There was that _one_ time with the smoke detector,” Leia shrugged.

“Keep it up, missy, and your dinners for the next few weeks are going to be your least favorites,” her mother warned.

“No, Mommy, please,” Leia paled. “Daddy, she is just going to give me broccoli!”

Anakin made a disgusted face. “Why would someone torture a child with broccoli?”

“See, Mommy? Even Daddy doesn’t like it and he’s a grown up!” Leia stated as a matter of fact and as if it was rightfully proved broccoli was evil.

“It is healthy, and as your mom, it’s my job to make sure you two are healthy.”

“I don’t mind broccoli,” Luke chirped, clearly trying to curry favor with Padmé.

Leia looked at Anakin for support and he realized that that little girl was already playing both of them. Smart. Cunning. But unlucky, Anakin wouldn’t go against Padmé’s decision. He didn’t have moral or legal grounds. “You should listen to your Mommy, she is doing the right thing for you.”

“You won’t have to eat it if you stop making jokes about my skills in the kitchen,” Padmé said. “Which are _fine._ ”

“Why don’t we talk about your birthday party tomorrow?” Anakin suggested. “Tell me everything.”

“We’re gonna play laser tag!” Luke told him. “And then we’ll come back home, and play party games, and there’ll be a magic show, and then we get cake and presents!”

“Grown-ups aren’t allowed to play, ‘cause that wouldn’t be fair,” Leia said. “You’re too tall.”

“Aw, sucks, because I’m kind of the best at laser tag. At least I was back in college,” Anakin chuckled. “But it’s okay, I have work meeting tomorrow throughout the day. I was thinking we can go to the Museum of Science on Sunday? Before I leave? Would you two like that?”

“Yes!” Luke gasped. “We can make frozen shadows together, and go to the virtual fishtank, and dig up the dinosaurs!”

“Slow down, hotshot,” Padmé laughed. “You need to breathe.”

Anakin laughed, amused and also excited at the prospect of sharing so much with Luke. “We can do whatever you two want. And if we don’t have time to do it, we’ll just have to make new plans for my next visit,” he promised.

Leia held up her little finger right in front of his face. “Pinky swear?” she asked gravely.

He held up his own pinky and wrapped it around her tiny one. “Pinky swear.” Leia grinned and shook the linked fingers before letting go and digging back into her pasta. Over her own dinner, Padmé smiled softly, tucking back a strand of hair behind her ear as Luke immediately started talking to Anakin about his new LEGO plane set.

She still felt guilty about the fact that he wouldn’t get to be at the actual party, but it was necessary to protect his privacy. And honestly, a small part of her was nervous about what was happening after the party. Luke and Leia were all too happy to be spending the night in the Organa’s hotel, since Breha had a habit of spoiling them, but watching Anakin like this…

Well, it was getting hard not to think of their casual room service meet up as having the potential to be something else. But that was an incredibly inappropriate thought, not to mention an impossible one. 

* * *

Anakin was just turning off the shower when he heard a knock at the door. He wrapped a towel around his waist and grabbed another one to dry his hair. He padded to the door, running the towel over his hair and opened the door to greet a slightly flustered Padmé.

“Padmé!” He widened his eyes. “Oh God, I’m sorry, I lost track of time.”

“No, no, I’m early,” she reassured him, making a point of averting her gaze. “Bail and Breha decided to take the twins early and go to a movie, and I didn’t feel like wandering around the city. I’m sorry for not texting ahead, that was rude of me. I can come back later if you want?”

“No, don’t be silly, you’re already here. Come in,” he stepped away to make room for her to enter. “How was the party?” He asked after he closed the door behind her, slipping the ‘Do Not Disturb’ sign in the doorknob before he did so.

“The usual level of chaos,” she admitted, pulling off the pale pink coat she was wearing and setting it on the desk chair. “Laser tag became an all out-war, too many kids on too much sugar, and not enough parents. It was everything the twins wanted.”

Anakin laughed. “I imagine. It just means their babysitters will have an easy night once they all crash from the sugar and sleep like the dead, I’m sure.”

“Not the twins though,” Padmé laughed as she removed the elastic holding her hair in a ponytail. “Not when they know they’ll be at a hotel with a waterslide. So, what were you up to before the shower?”

“I had just gotten to the hotel, I had a few work meetings,” he explained before remembering he was only wearing a towel. “Oh, I’ll… I’ll be right back, I’m putting something on,” he said sheepishly, grabbing something from his suitcase and entering the bathroom. “Feel free to call for room service!”

“Do you want anything in particular?” she asked, picking up the menu. “I’m getting wine regardless, I can’t remember the last time I had a drink that wasn’t at a work-related event.”

“No, just… order whatever you want,” he replied and came out of the bathroom a few minutes later in a simple black t-shirt, black bottoms, barefoot with his hair still slightly damp, just as Padmé was hanging up the phone.

“I got you a burger,” she informed him. “And a veggie one for me. And red velvet cake, so that you can tell me if yours is better or not.” It was then that he noticed her sleeveless top and jeans were also black. It popped against her pale skin and arguably made her look even prettier.

“Mine will definitely be better,” he sat in the couch nearby the window. “We’re matching, Congresswoman, who would have thought us to have such similar styles?” Anakin teased as his eyes roamed her body appreciatively.

“I had to put on dark clothing today to get the twins to follow suit,” Padmé explained. “You don’t want to play laser tag in light colors, after all. Too visible.”

“Well, you can definitely pull off dark clothing,” he leaned back against the cushions, folding his arms.

“So do you,” she replied before blushing nearly as red as her lipstick. “I mean…”

An easy grin blossomed on his lips. “I know what you mean and yes, black on black is my specialty. It brings more attention to my eyes,” his eyes, dark blue like two precious sapphires twinkled. “Arguably my best feature.”

“Arguably,” she mumbled, running a hand through her hair. “So, we’ve got a little time before the food arrives. Any ideas of how to pass it? Maybe tell me a little more about your work?”

“Sure. If you sit down and stop acting like I’m going to bite you,” Anakin snorted, watching as she didn’t move from her spot across the room. “You can also tell me what the twins confided in you when you went home last night.”

Very awkwardly, she sank down on the very edge of the king-sized bed, Anakin raising one eyebrow at her. “They asked if they can visit you in California every summer. I think they figure they can convince you to take them to Disneyland. They’ve given up trying to do that with me and Six Flags.”

“Disneyland sounds like a good plan,” he nodded. “I wouldn’t mind if they visited. When it’s their vacation time, and you have work to do, I won’t mind taking care of them, if you agree,” Anakin said. “Of course, we will have to talk about publicly handling things but we can leave that for later.”

“No kidding,” she sighed. “Sorry, I have no idea what’s wrong with me tonight. I’m not normally like this.”

“Like what? Normal?” He teased and leaned forward. “It’s alright to relax.”

“You’re making fun of me.” The blush started creeping back into her cheeks.

“Oh no, I am far too scared to make fun of a soon-to-be Senator,” he said, beaming up at her. She gave a sigh that turned into a laugh.

“Wow, I’m bad at this.”

“Flirting? I noticed,” he said cheekily, standing up. She looked up at him in shock. “It’s sort of adorable, really.”

“You’re flirting with me?” She seemed baffled by the possibility. “Seriously?”

“The fact that you are so shocked, has _me_ worried I suck at this,” he chuckled, shaking his head. There was a knock on the door and they heard ‘ _room service’_ from the man outside. Padmé turned away so that whoever it was wouldn’t recognize her when they came in. “Hold that thought,” he winked and went over to the door, letting the cart be brought inside before tipping the waiter and closing the door. He grabbed the wine from the cart and poured a glass. “Here, maybe this will help you relax.”

She grabbed it and took a very big swallow. “It’s just,” she paused to catch her breath a little, “I figured it was really inappropriate to think about you that way, given that we have biological kids, and we don’t really know each other that well, and I didn’t even know if you would consider dating someone like me, since you hate politics so much.”

Anakin raised one eyebrow. “We have been texting non-stop for a month now, Padmé. I know you prefer hyacinths to the traditional roses and that blue is your favorite color. You prefer sunset instead of sunrise, when we had a very long texting argument where I defended sunrise until you argued me to a point of being so convinced I was wrong that I now prefer sunset. You can quote every single line of _The Princess Bride_ and… and I know you secretly read comic books,” he stated. “I was not considering dating until I met you. Until I knew you. I don’t mind you have kids - since they are also _my_ kids - and I am a pretty decent and nice guy myself,” he smiled, thinking about their conversation one time. “You are genuinely interested in my work, you understand where I come from and you don’t shove pictures of cats in sweaters under my nose every thirty minutes,” he ended with a small laugh.

She took another large gulp of wine, then set the glass down on the nightstand and swung her legs up on to the bed, kneeling on it so that they were eye to eye. “I really want to kiss you right now,” she said bluntly.

“You better.”

She practically fell on him, and as her lips found his, it was clear that she was at least five years out of practice, because it was sloppy. Although she might have also been drunk, given how tiny she was. But her lips were soft and her hair smelled like hyacinths. He wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her back eagerly. As she moaned into his mouth, he slipped his tongue between her lips to taste her and it was everything he had imagined and more. She was addictive. She tasted of wine and something that was uniquely her. His fingers slipped beneath her tank top, to skim over the skin of her lower back, enjoying how it felt, smooth like silk. “Anakin,” she mumbled into his mouth. “Oh my God.”

“I can stop if you want to,” he whispered pulling away slightly.

“No, don’t, it’s just,” she paused, “you have protection, right? Last thing we want is to give the twins a sibling.”

Anakin nodded and pecked her lips. “I do. You’re not on the pill?”

“I’ve got an implant, but no method’s one hundred percent effective,” she pointed out, tugging at the hem of his t-shirt. He nodded in agreement.

“If it’s annoying you, you can take it off,” he teased. She rolled her eyes and let go, reaching for the back of his collar and pulling it halfway over his head.

“I do not remember high school quarterbacks looking as good as this,” she whispered, her voice deepening as she ran a hand over his abs. “Computer nerds are built.”

He grinned at the compliment and pulled the shirt the rest of the way off. “Computer nerds work out too,” he kissed the curve of her neck. “I am very glad I pleased you, Congresswoman,” then he knocked her back into the mattress and climbed on top of her, claiming her lips once more, their dinner forgotten as the need for each other grew stronger. She reached down, fumbling with the thin belt holding up her jeans.

“Padmé,” she corrected, tugging the strip of leather out of the belt loops and tossing it on the floor. “Just Padmé.” Then she stuck her tongue in his mouth. He moaned into the kiss as his hand came down to undo her button and zipper, hand slipping underneath the thin fabric of her underwear to cup her, fingers caressing the small hairs, reaching lower teasingly. She whimpered, moving to grab at the band of his sweatpants. “Anakin, Anakin, Anakin,” she chanted needily. “ _Please._ ”

“Easy, we’re not in a rush, are we?” He dragged his lips up and down her jawline.

“How long has it been since _you_ last had sex?” she asked dryly.

“Three months,” he snickered.

“ _Seven years_ ,” she growled. “I need this.”

“Wait, _seven_ years?” He pulled back. “So… no pressure on me, then. This is… this is like losing your virginity all over again.” She rolled her eyes and leaned in for another kiss.

“Don’t overthink it. I still know what I’m doing.”

“Then we’re doing it properly,” he said, kissing her back before kneeling in bed, removing her flats and then tugging down her jeans, discarding the clothes to the side. Leaning forward, he started by kissing the inside of her knee, his lips moving higher, into her inner thigh. Sometimes his tongue would come out to tease her, taste her skin, provoke her. Padmé let out a low whistle, her hips rocking back and forth.

“You like tormenting me, don’t you?”

She could feel the bed shake with his laughter. “It will be worth it,” he whispered, kissing her over the lace of her panties. “I promise.”

“That wasn’t a no.”

He pulled the fabric aside, before licking a broad stripe over her sex, moaning at how good she tasted, before starting to work his tongue over her folds. Padmé’s hands fisted around the duvet as she tried to keep her breathing regular, but it failed spectacularly. She climaxed without warning, just a gasp as her cum spilled into his mouth. He licked his lips, pulling back long enough to remove her panties entirely. Leaning forward again, he kissed her stomach, his finger teasing her entrance, before pushing it inside, testing her.

“Oh, my _God,_ ” she whined. “You don’t mess around.”

“No,” he replied glancing up at her with darkened blue eyes. “Besides… seven years? You need to catch up on a lot of orgasms.”

“I have a vibrator,” she said with a pout. “But it’s not the same.”

He inserted a second finger inside of her, never breaking eye contact. “It really isn’t,” he agreed with a whisper as he curled his fingers inside of her. She whined, trying to bend forward for another kiss.

“Come on, _please._ ”

Indulging her, he leaned in to peck her lips, thrusting his fingers inside of her, over and over again. “Soon.”

She twisted her hips rather forcefully as she came again, then wriggled off his fingers and away from him. “Not bad,” she said, even though the breathless state she was in made it clear that she thought it was more than that. “But if there’s going to keep being foreplay, I’m calling the shots.”

“Yeah, how about… no,” he wrapped his hand around her ankle and pulled her down, closer to him again and pinned both of her hands down by the sides of her head. “You like control, I get it, but tonight will be a different experience,” he said as he kissed down her neck, over her collarbone and his lips brushed her cleavage. “Just give in to me and I promise you won’t regret it.”

“Do we need a safe word?” she asked with a grin.

“No,” he pecked her lips and released her hands in favor of pulling her top and her bra over her head and throwing them to the side.

“Just checking.” The impish little smirk stayed in place. “You were rather dominant just now, it was kind of sexy.”

“I can keep being dominant, Padmé, all you have to do is ask,” he teased as he kissed down her chest, teasing her nipple with his tongue before sucking on it.

“Give it a try,” she gasped, eyes widening. “ _Wow,_ that feels different from the last time I did something like this.” He released her breast to pay the other one some attention, using his hand to tweak the sensitive nipple while he sucked on the other one. “Oh, my _God,_ ” Padmé whined.

Pulling back, he faced her with a smile. “Enjoying yourself?” He raised one eyebrow, teasingly moving the tip of his fingers over her naked stomach, skimming the edge of her womanhood.

“I’d like it even more if we got to the main event,” she whispered, taking a shuddering breath.

“Hmm. Do you ever take the time to just enjoy the moment? Do you have to rush everything?” He rolled his eyes. “I would have thought with two orgasms you would have been a bit more mellow,” he leaned down to kiss her stomach.

“You can’t throw chum in the water, then be surprised when the shark wants more,” she countered, wriggling down so that they were eye to eye. “Sexy, sexy chum.”

“Remove my pants. Now.” He ordered, shaking his head at her analogy. “So I can pin you down and ravish you.” Padmé obliged, tugging down the sweatpants but lingering at the boxers for a long moment. “They need to come off if you want the main event,” he teased as he enjoyed how flustered she was. _Seven years_ **_is_ ** _a long time after all…_ “If you don’t do it, I’ll just keep up the foreplay.”

“As you wish,” she rolled her eyes, pulling off his underwear and his erection sprung free. She could clearly see that he was already hard for her. Impressively hard.

“Don’t roll your eyes on me,” he tapped her nose, distracting her for a second. “That’s unbecoming on you.”

“I thought you wanted me to mellow out.”

“Don’t roll your eyes,” he repeated. “Now, touch me. I know you’re itching to,” he leaned down and kissed her cheek sweetly. She swallowed a bit, clearly losing her nerve a bit as she hesitantly wrapped her fingers around his length. “Move your hand,” he coaxed into her ear. “Stroke me. Feel me.”

“Okay, okay,” she muttered, her cheeks flushing even redder as she moved her hand up and down, trying to find a rhythm that suited both of them. “Now who’s impatient?”

He moaned into her neck and bucked his hips forward. “ _Fuck…_ ”

Padmé moved her hand lower so that she was guiding the tip of his cock to brush against her folds. “Come on. I need it. I need _you._ ”

Anakin grabbed her wrist. “Stop, before I do enter you and I’m still not wearing a condom,” he kissed the corner of her lips as he began to pull away from her, removing the pants and the boxers all the way down his legs, so they could join her discarded clothes on the floor. Padmé flipped over with a huff, her pert little backside on full display.

“I thought bossy men were the most unattractive thing in the world until I met you,” she mused. “On you, it’s,” she paused, wetting her lips. “I don’t even have a word for it.”

“Sexy? Suitable? Completely hot?” He offered suggestions as he retrieved a condom from his bag. “Don’t worry, I thought politicians were not for me either until I met you.” He sauntered back to her and rapped her backside. “You’re also something else entirely, Congresswoman. Now roll over.”

“Hmmm.” She looked over her shoulder with a smirk. “No.”

“I can take you from behind, you know?” He smirked back, caressing her cheeks before slipping his hand lower, fingers grazing her entrance.

“Maybe I want you to do exactly that.” She shivered slightly, both from his touch and the anticipation. “Maybe I find _that_ sexy. Suitable. Completely hot.”

He smirked and got on the bed, behind her and she heard the distinctive rip of the little package. “I should make you put this on me, but maybe next time,” he quipped and it wasn’t long before she felt him against her backside and his lips were kissing her down her spine. “Maybe _this_ is also my favorite position,” he teased quietly.

“I’m up for just about anything,” she said huskily, not disputing the prospect of a _next time_. “Try me.”

Anakin positioned himself at her entrance and pushed forward, easing into her, moaning in the process. She was incredibly tight and he didn’t want to just thrust into her without a care. Seven years was a long time and he would have probably hurt her. His hands grabbed her waist and pulled her up, so she was supporting her weight on her hands and knees. “You feel…” he went further into her, “so good.”

“Oh, my God,” she exhaled, leaning back into him. “Oh, my God _, Anakin, yes._ ” One of her hands reached upwards, searching for his. “ _Fuck, yes._ ” Her hips rubbed against his legs, pulling him deeper into her.

He took her hand as he found a good pace for them. “ _Padmé…_ fuck, you feel so fucking good, baby…”

“Call me that again,” she groaned. “God, I’m close, so close. Come on.” He thrust into her harder as he leaned down and whispered _baby_ into her ear. She came with a shriek, the one hand that was still holding her up trembling as she fought against the urge to slump forward. “Oh, God, baby, _yes,_ ” Padmé moaned.

He came a few thrusts later, moaning her name, his grip on her waist loosening as he rode his own orgasm. “You’re amazing,” he mumbled breathlessly, leaning forward to kiss her neck, his body covering hers.

“That might have been the best sex of my life,” she said, falling onto the mattress so that she could flip around and look up at him. “And we’re just getting started.”

His sly smile was all that she needed to know about how he felt about that. 

* * *

Padmé awoke to find herself spooning the biological father of her children, her face buried in his neck so that she could inhale the scent of his hair. Turning her head, she saw the clock flashing a big seven at her. “Oh, crap,” she muttered, carefully disentangling her legs from his and pressing a hand to his shoulder. “Anakin. Anakin. Babe. Wake up.”

“Hmm,” he groaned, turning around. “I thought I tired you last night,” Anakin mumbled sleepily, putting an arm around her waist and pulling her down. “We deserve a little rest.”

“I have to get the twins from the Organas at ten,” she said, cuddling against his chest. “And before that, I need to go home and change, or the twins are going to be asking why I’m wearing yesterday’s clothes.”

“I am sure I have something that can fit you,” he said teasingly, kissing her hair. “Besides, three hours is plenty of time or are you in a rush to escape me?”

“Babe—”

“I love that you call me that.”

“Anakin, listen,” she sighed, smiling in spite of herself. “If we leave the hotel together, with me wearing your clothes, someone’s going to notice, we’ll end up getting our picture taken, and any semblance of privacy we had is going to go out the window. I’d _love_ to stay in and potentially have sex in the shower, but we have to think about the big picture too.”

Anakin loosened his hold on her and sighed, agreeing with her. “Do you always have to be the voice of reason?” He asked rhetorically. “Fine, I’ll let you go,” he yawned, cuddling into the pillow. “Where do we meet later?”

“Meet you at the Museum of Science?”

“Time?”

“Ten-thirty?” She rolled out of bed, rummaging around on the floor for her pants.

“Hmm, deal,” he replied, voice muffled by the pillow.

“Hey.” She stood up and leaned over, kissing him. “I had an amazing time last night. That thing we did with the cake… wow.”

“Yes, it was,” he kissed her back. “I think I will only eat cake that way from now on.”

“Please don’t, you’re going to be at the twins’ next birthday, after all.” She retrieved her bra and tank top from the floor. I’ll see you at the museum?” She asked, grabbing her coat and slipping it on.

“Definitely,” he replied with an easy grin.

“See you then, hot stuff.” Padmé winked as she stepped around the room service plates on the floor, making her way to the door.

He snickered. “Bye, baby.”

“Oh, and you might want to get that out of your system before you’re around the twins. If they found out about this, they’d probably start planning our wedding.”

“It’s like you don’t have any faith in me,” he snorted. “Go,” he threw a pillow at her with a chuckle. “I’ll see you later, Congresswoman.”

“Mr. Skywalker,” she countered coyly.

* * *

“Can we do the bed of nails again?” Luke asked. “It was so cool!”

“I wanna watch an Omni movie!” Leia countered. “That’s way cooler!”

“How long do you have before you have to get to the airport?” Padmé asked, turning to look at Anakin. “Accounting for getting your stuff and going through TSA?”

“Not enough,” he said with a sad smile and squeezing Leia’s little hand. “I have to leave now if I want to make my flight.”

“Nooooo!” Leia whined, grabbing at his hand. “Can’t you wait til tomorrow?”

Anakin knelt to her height and tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. “I’m so sorry I have to go. I have work tomorrow.” He cupped her cheek and caressed it with his thumb. “I was having a really great day with you all.”

“So, we won’t get to see you again until Christmas?” Luke complained, immediately siding with Leia. “That’s way too long!”

“We’ll work something out,” Padmé promised as she gave Anakin a lingering glance. “It’ll definitely be before Christmas.”

“Yes, it will. It won’t be long, I promise,” he smiled and also took Luke’s hand. “We can Skype. All the time, alright?”

The twins exchanged glances before slowly nodding. “Okay,” Luke said. “Every day?”

“You can read us bedtime stories!” Leia added, her eyes lighting up.

“Your mother and I will do our best with our schedules,” he chuckled. “Now, give me a hug. I have to go.” The twins charged him, each wrapping an arm around him.

“Bye, Daddy,” Luke whispered. “Come back soon.”

Anakin tried not to get emotional with them calling him _daddy_ because the last thing he wanted was to bawl like a baby in front of his actual babies. “I will, I promise. I love you both, okay?”

“We love you too,” Leia mumbled into his shoulder. “Times infinity.”

He laughed sweetly, and blinked away the start of tears. “Times infinity,” he agreed, pulling back and kissing their foreheads, standing up and turning to Padmé. This goodbye was getting to be excruciatingly more difficult than he anticipated.

“Have a good flight,” she said, rubbing at her arm nervously. “Get home safely.”

Anakin nodded. “I’ll text you when I land.”

“Okay, deal,” Padmé agreed softly, leaning in for one of those weird, formal hugs. “Now get going, Logan can be a nightmare.”

“I’ll miss you,” he whispered just so she could hear before taking a step back. “We’ll keep in touch. I promise it won’t be long before we see each other again.”

She swallowed nervously, fiddling with a strand of her hair. “Bye.”

Waving at the twins, he turned around and left them, hailing a cab so he could get to the hotel. As he entered the car and told the driver where to go, he leaned against the seat and tried to take deep breaths as he felt a crushing weight overwhelm him. Saying goodbye to the twins, to Padmé, was maybe the hardest thing he had ever done.

At his hip, his phone beeped with a text alert. When he looked at it, it was a picture of the twins and Padmé posing with their frozen shadows, followed by _Miss you already!_

Anakin gave a shuddering breath as a tear fell down his cheek. He put the phone away, hands shaking as he wondered how curious life was. He had met the twins not two days ago, and he would already die for them. He met Padmé one month ago and he already started to feel something real for her.

There was no way he could tell anyone about this. But for now, he was fine with that.


	4. Chapter 4

Anakin arrived home that day, exhausted but happy. The meeting with his LA team had gone wonderfully well and everything was on track for him to move to Boston soon. It had been three months since his trip to be with the twins and make the preparations to open a new office of _Lightspeed_ and things were going spectacularly well. He had closed the deal on the office’s location and had managed to snag three, potentially four, clients to start his business in the East Coast. He’d nominated Kitster as the head of the LA office, something very well received within the team, and due to their request, he’s taking two engineers and one developer with him to Boston. The rest of the team he’s recruiting from MIT senior classes. He was once a senior and he knows how it feels to have that one person to believe in you and he wants to be that person and finally, he has the means to do it.

When he partnered up with MIT for the recruiting phase, the board invited him to give a couple of lectures, starting next week, which meant he would be able to fly to Boston sooner than expected and be with his children to give them the good news. He knew they would be happy. They skyped every day and they would always question when he would return. He hoped Padmé would also be happy with him moving to the east coast… a small part of him (encouraged by Obi-Wan) questioned if she would feel crowded. Everything was falling into place, like a puzzle, and Anakin felt like he was on cloud nine.

“The smile on your face is like I’ve never seen before,” Ahsoka commented as she was the only one remained and Anakin was shutting off his laptop.

“I never felt this happy,” Anakin replied with a genuine smile. “This is what my life was missing. This is how I always wanted to feel. This is why, unconsciously, all those blind dates were awful. I don’t know, I never believed in destiny before but this…”

“Feels like destiny?” Ahsoka chuckled.

“Yeah,” he replied softly. “How about you, have you made up your mind yet?” Shmi was moving across the country with him. She had given notice in her current work and was already applying for hospitals in Boston.

“I dunno. I think I might stick around and try to do a hostile takeover from Kitster as soon as you’re gone,” she said dryly. “I’ll come out for Thanksgiving and Christmas, but I’m done being your cockblocking little sister.”

“Ahsoka, you’re more than that. You’re an Auntie now. The twins asked about you last time. Are you sure you don’t want to move with us and take on the dutiful role of Aunt?” He teased. “Who knows what can happen in Boston for you.”

“See, the way you’re talking makes me think you just want a free babysitter.” She rolled her eyes. “I like living in a warmer area. Also, I haven’t talked with Bariss about it yet. I can’t just spring long distance on my girlfriend.”

“Well, if you decide to move, you know you can count on us,” he kissed her cheek. “But I am going to miss you.”

“Sheesh, Skyguy, being a dad’s made you all mushy.” Ahsoka laughed, moving to pick up one of his picture frames. “Hey, have you already broken the lease with Watto? Or could I move in here?”

Anakin extended her his extra key. “Ruin my place, Snips, and I’ll kick your ass… then bill you.”

“Sweet.” She grinned. “I’m gonna have _so_ many parties.”

He paused. “Yes, it’s definitely better you stay here. You’re a _bad_ influence.” Anakin shook his head.

“I’m _fun,_ ” she corrected. “You, on the other hand, are in the process of becoming boring.”

Anakin shrugged. “Padmé influences me, besides, I’m not becoming boring, I’m becoming responsible, there’s a difference. But I’ll still be the dad that gives them ice cream before dinner and caves when they pout.”

Ahsoka slid her new key onto the lanyard she wore around her neck. “I can’t believe you still haven’t told her yet that you’re moving out there to be with her.”

“First, I wanted it to be a surprise, then _Obi-Wan_ started talking about how rushed it was and how I might be crowding her and so on… I mean, yeah, I’ve met them once, and was with her a handful of times and yes, now I’m scared he’s right… but you have no idea how much I miss them and how much saying goodbye hurts.” Anakin sulked.

“Why are you listening to a guy who might still be a virgin?” His sister started rummaging through his snack cabinet. “Half the time, I’m convinced Obi-Wan is actually an alien sleeper agent sent to observe the ways of the human. He is _bad_ at dating.”

“Yes, but he makes some great points and he is my lawyer. As much as he is annoying, I know he cares for me, he’s been doing it since I was nine,” Anakin sighed. “It feels right, Snips, now I’m just sort of scared that I am going to frighten her. I mean, just because I was her children’s donor and we had sex one night, it doesn’t mean she’s thinking of wedding bells and life together,” he huffed. “We went back to texting and awkwardly avoiding speaking about feelings.”

“Or maybe she’s just worried that her phone’s gonna get hacked,” Ahsoka pointed out. “Come on, you’re totally in a rom-com right now, stop fighting it with logic!”

“Yes,” he rolled his eyes. “Rom-com premiering on Netflix next spring,” he mocked. “Ahsoka, this is serious. This is not a movie. Will I scare her if I move to Boston? Will she feel pressure to give me my parental rights back? These things keep me up at night.”

“Mom says melatonin helps with that.” She checked her phone. “And Bariss is asking me where I am, so I gotta run. But I’ll see you tomorrow when we start packing you up.”

“Things with Bariss are going well, then?” Anakin leaned back in his chair, smiling.

“We’re doing karaoke tonight, so we’ll see. That’s the real gauntlet of any relationship. Try it with Padmé some time.”

“Padmé, the Congresswoman? Doubtful.” He snickered. “Have fun, Snips.”

“Bye!” She headed over to the door, pausing as she opened it. “Oh, hey, Mom. Great timing, I’m just heading out.”

“Use pro—” Ahsoka was already halfway down the hall with the door slammed behind her before Shmi could finish. “—tection. Hi, Ani.”

“Why would she need to use protection?” Anakin shook his head as he stood to kiss his Mom’s cheek, Shmi muttering something under her breath about STDs. “Hi, Mom. Did we had dinner planned today?” He frowned, looking at his phone. Usually, he would set a reminder.

“No, but there was a mixup at work, I didn’t actually have a shift tonight. You weren’t planning on calling the twins, were you?” she asked as she took off her jacket, revealing the scrubs underneath.

“Not right now, usually Padmé texts me when they’re ready,” he sighed and looked at his notifications again. Then didn’t text much the past few days, but then again, their schedules were insane lately. “I’m doing the right thing… right, Mom? Moving to Boston? Invading their space like that?”

“You’re not knocking on the door to their house and demanding to move in with them, are you?”

“No,” he chuckled. “But it’s their city… their safe space… I don’t know, now that everything is done and things went smoothly, I’m waiting for the other shoe to drop and suddenly things are not as easy, or uncomplicated as they seemed.”

“They wanted you in their lives, Ani. Considering the kind of person Padmé is, don’t you think she would have been asking the same questions before she found you?” Shmi reminded him. “You can keep boundaries within the same city. Or are you going to tell me you know everyone in LA?”

He took her hand and squeezed it, “I know. You’re right. I’m overthinking this. I’m very grateful you’re coming with me, Mom.”

“I’m excited to be going. Now, I have a very serious question. Do you think I’m more of a Grandma, or a Nana? Do you know what they call Padmé’s mother?”

“Grandma or Nana, you’ll be amazing. I don’t, but I can ask her if you would like,” he smiled widely.

“I _would_ like that. If you think it won’t give away the surprise, and you can get away with it, by all means, ask.” Shmi moved toward the kitchen. “Have you already cleared everything out, or is there still food?”

“I might have something in the freezer, yeah,” Anakin replied as he picked his phone.

 **Anakin** : Mom’s curious.

 **Anakin** : When she meets the twins, will she be Grandma or Nana?

 **Anakin** : What do they call your mom?

 **Padmé:** They call my mom Grammy.

 **Padmé:** And judging from experience, they’d probably end up calling your mom Nana Shmi, and eventually drop the Shmi.

“How do you feel about Nana? Her mom is Grammy.” Anakin asked as he followed his mother and sat in one of the stools, replying back to Padmé with a smiley face before setting the phone down.

“Nana works,” Shmi said. “I figured I should have options. Do you want the frozen chicken, or the frozen burgers?”

“Chicken’s fine. Have you heard back from any hospital in Boston?”

“A few, but they want me to interview with them first. What about you, has the realtor called you back yet about the places you were considering?”

“Yes, they sent me a few answers. That three bedroom apartment in the center of the city could work really well. It’s nearby everything, including my office and a few hospitals.”

“And the price isn’t too much?”

“Well, for the price they are asking, I would prefer to pay a bit more and get the five bedroom one. It’s in Cambridge, but it has more space for everyone. A three bedroom apartment would be tight if Ahsoka changes her mind and I want a room for the twins.” Anakin said scrolling through the pictures he had been sent.

“Does Padmé live there? Or is she in Boston proper?”

“East Boston. It’s nearby though, five minutes apart. In Cambridge, I’m also closer to MIT.”

“Well, good, that’ll make things easier on the work front. Although I hear awful things about the traffic.” Anakin’s phone buzzed in his lap.

 **Padmé:** Any chance I can enlist your help?

 **Padmé:** Luke’s trying to take apart Threepio.

 **Padmé:** If he breaks it and it’s not fixed until December, it might ruin his childhood.

 **Padmé:** And he won’t listen to me!!!

Anakin snorted with a laugh. “Luke’s trying to take apart Threepio,” he muttered to his Mom.

“Can’t imagine where he got that from.”

 **Anakin** : I made it childproof. What exactly is he trying to take apart?

 **Anakin** : Ask him if he wants to hurt Threepio. If he says yes, ask why. If he says no, tell him he’s doing it.

“You’re still upset about the toaster I dismantled when I was a kid?” Anakin raised his eyes. “I gave you a new one with my first salary, remember?”

“Ten years later.”

 **Padmé:** I need to Skype you. Now.

 **Padmé:** He says I’m a liar and that he has to stop the virus.

 **Padmé:** Help me, Anakin, you’re my only hope.

 **Anakin** : And I’m the one who’s dramatic…

“It still was a better toaster,” he quipped, and on his phone clicked in the little Skype icon, then selected Padmé’s picture and pressed the little camera as it started buzzing. Padmé answered immediately, her hair falling out of its usually perfect bun.

“Thank _God._ ” She turned the phone in her hand so that Anakin could see Luke holding a screwdriver like a knife over Threepio’s arm. “Honey, look, it’s Daddy.”

“Hey, buddy, whatcha doing?” Anakin raised his eyebrows. “Is Threepio broken?”

“The alieums got to him!” Luke said very seriously. “I gotta get them out!”

“Oh, no! Sounds serious. Where did he catch the aliens?” Anakin pretended to look equally serious. “How are they manifesting?”

“I dunno! But suddenly, he kept sayin’ stuff like ‘oh dear,’ and he never said that before, so it’s gotta be aliens! And I gotta get them out!”

“Buddy, I think you might have discovered Threepio’s hidden talent,” Anakin smirked. Luke put down the screwdriver, his eyes narrowing. “I thought I had shut if off until I visited again to complete it, but you are so smart you must have rebooted him… somehow.”

“Like father, like son,” Shmi muttered from the stove.

“Is that all he’s been saying?” Anakin asked, ignoring his mother.

“There’s a lotta ‘no, Master Luke,’” his son admitted. “And he took Mommy’s side about eating vegetables.”

“Luke, those are not aliens, that is Threepio’s artificial intelligence working. I planned him to be yours and Leia’s friend and a helpful voice when your mother needs to make you eat the little trees,” Anakin smiled as he calmly explained what was happening to his five-year-old son. “He’s clearly unfinished, but I’ll see if I can access his systems through my laptop and tweak him so he holds until I can completely fix him. Until then, you shouldn’t try to take him apart.”

“But I like taking stuff apart.”

Shmi snickered as Anakin grinned. “I know you do, buddy, and advice from me, don’t take your mom’s toaster apart, she might get angry,” he smirked, stage whispering as if it was a big secret. “What if I mail you a circuits board, with the right tools, so you can play with it? Take it apart and put it together? Over and over?” He offered.

“For real?” Luke’s blue eyes lit up. “Cool!”

“Honey, how about you give Threepio to me and go wash up for bed while Daddy fixes him?” Padmé suggested. “Okay?”

“Yes, Mommy,” Luke muttered, getting up and handing her the robot doll. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine, sweetie. And tell your sister it’s bedtime.” Padmé turned the phone back to him. “Next time you make a robot for one of them, a manual would be appreciated.”

Anakin chuckled. “In Threepio’s back there is a small space where you can connect him directly to the land line. Do it and I can reboot him and sync his AI from my laptop. I will text you when it’ ready,” he asked. “Where’s Leia?”

“In their bedroom, drawing her campaign posters for Class President even though I told her that kindergarten doesn’t have class elections.” Padmé sighed. “While I wouldn’t object to a future political dynasty of women, she doesn’t have the listening part down yet.”

“I don’t know, she’s pretty convincing. She’ll have all other five years-old voting for her and it will be a thing,” he said. “Like mother, like daughter. It’s cute. She wants to be you.”

“Not as badly as Luke wants to be you, it seems.” Padmé put her phone down so she could fix her hair, giving Anakin a look at her kitchen in the process. “They made me look up how to do Christmas, so that they’d have a handbook ready when they visit you in December.”

“That’s adorable,” he said with a huge smile. “I kind of have bad news. I’m sorry I can’t visit before December. Work is crazy. A lot is happening right now.”

“You’re opening a Boston office, right?” Padmé asked. “I got a briefing from the Mayor and the Governor about that. I guess things would be hectic if a bunch of your staff has to move across the country. I hope you can manage without them.”

Anakin blinked, surprised. “I didn’t know they spoke about _Lightspeed_ with you.”

“Politicians pay attention to things that grow the economy and create jobs,” she explained, bending down to pull something out of the oven. Anakin caught the flash of a pale pink bra edged in lace as she did so. “Having some competition with Silicon Valley is something that’s good for Massachusetts.”

“The deal was not fully closed yet, that’s why I didn’t tell you before,” he sulked. “Yeah, I’m transferring some of the team and I have Kitster leading the charge, but I have to hold down the fort here, so, no more upcoming trips for me. A lot of clients coming in, a lot of recruitment happening, trainees… it’s madness,” he pouted, half of the surprise already ruined.

“I can imagine, splitting my time between campaigning and actually being in Congress is driving me crazy. I found my shoes in the freezer two nights ago.”

“You need to sleep,” he advised.

“And dinner's nearly ready,” Shmi quipped.

“I have to go. Rest. Try not to freeze more shoes. I’ll speak to you tomorrow,” Anakin said.

“I make no promises, I’m prepping their lunches for the next week right now. Bye, Anakin.”

“Bye, Padmé,” he hung up and set the phone aside. “I hate this. Half of my surprise is already ruined.”

“I didn’t realize the office was a surprise,” his mother offered soothingly as she distributed the chicken among their plates. Anakin grumbled, upset. “Think of it this way, you’ve thrown her off the scent. She won’t be expecting it now. And she doesn’t know about MIT.”

“Of course she is expecting me, it’s my company and I’m not that good of a liar,” he mercilessly stabbed a chicken’s breast. “Ugh. I’m already regretting the decision. I should move next year. _That_ will be a surprise.” He stuffed his mouth with chicken and potatoes and munched on it angrily.

“Ani. Don’t blow this out of proportion, remember how you came home from your first interview with MIT insisting that you’d blown it?”

“I guess,” he replied after swallowing.

“And you ended up getting in, didn’t you?”

“This is not a job interview, Mom. This is… potentially… a woman… I might have some feelings for…” he shrugged, awkwardly. “Who I have no idea if she feels the same.” He stabbed a vegetable and frowned at it. “Why am I eating broccoli?”

“Because everyone needs five servings of fruits and vegetables a day,” Shmi answered, “and you’re a father now, which is further incentive to take care of yourself.”

“Yes, but broccoli? Trees? _Why?_ ” He made a face as he pushed a small tree aside, away from his chicken.

“They were in your fridge, Anakin.”

“Ugh, I know, I had to  buy one bag to show the twins vegetables were also adult food,” he rolled his eyes. “How can I lie to them so bluntly?” Anakin sighed.

“Because that’s what parents do, Anakin, I lied to you and Ahsoka about where babies came from for years because it was what you needed to hear at the time.”

“Think I’ll do well on this dad thing?” Anakin asked. “Skyping is a lot different from actual twenty-four/seven parenting. I couldn’t even keep a goldfish alive…”

“You kept the class hamster alive for a weekend–”

He groaned. “Before I let the neighbor’s cat have it for lunch.”

“That was not your fault.”

“I love you. Thank you for making me feel better,” he leaned forward to kiss her cheek. “I need to finish dinner so I can finish packing my clothes. You’re coming with me, right? Are you all packed or need help too?”

“Nearly everything’s in boxes. I haven’t called a mover yet because you haven’t picked a house.”

“Hmm. The five bedroom one?” He suggested. “What do you say?”

“I’d say yes. It seems like it’ll be a wonderful home.”

* * *

“And that is why my campaign has always been defined as Amidala for All. Thank you and good night.”

“And time.” Dormé hit the stopwatch. “You’re still a few seconds over.”

“Dammit.” Padmé sighed, tugging at the neck of her sweatshirt. “Should we go again?” The staff exchanged glances. “ _What_?” she groaned.

“We’ve been at this for _hours,_ Padmé,” Sabé sighed and stood. “I enjoy working and preparing more than anyone in this room, however, people are tired, hungry and need some fresh air. We should take a break.”

“It’s August,” Teckla added. “We have three months until the election, two for the debates. You’re going to burn out.”

“I’m fine,” Padmé insisted.

“You’re exhausted and overthinking it,” Dormé added. “Let’s take a couple of days to regroup, Padmé, it won’t be catastrophic.”

“But—”

“You’re ahead in the polls by fifteen points.”

“Which is nine less than the last Senate was called by!”

“PADMÉ!” Everyone shouted.

“Go home. Get some rest. Spend time with the twins.” Sabé sighed. “Focus on something else besides the campaign, alright?”

Padmé crossed her arms, then sighed. “Alright, fine. Under protest, I will go home and wait for the twins to be done with camp for the day. But if I lose this election, I will blame this day.”

Her staff began gathering their things and tidying up the room they have been occupying for the better part of the last couple of days. Sabé reached forward to privately whisper to Padmé. “Take them to California to be with your baby daddy. Get some sex while you’re at it. You’re impossible, lately,” she snickered.

Padmé blinked. She’d never said a word about the night with Anakin. How had Sabé known?

“Oh please, after he left, you had that after sex glow for _days,_ “ Sabé rolled her eyes. “I wouldn’t be a very good campaign manager if I didn’t read you correctly.”

“I can’t go to California, there isn’t time.”

Sabé grabbed her shoulders and stared into her eyes. “We’re in the lead. Palpatine and his old ways are falling behind. Wearing yourself to the ground is not going to help you when you are eventually Senator. What good will you do if you’re exhausted and burn out? What about our team? These men and women have families too. Take a couple of days.”

“I’m taking the break,” Padmé conceded, “but I’m not going to California. I’m not going to force Anakin into our lives when he clearly has other priorities.” There was a bitter edge to her voice.

“Oh, he has disappointed you already? That was fast. Not even your baby daddy lives up to the expectations,” Sabé teased.

“He’s creating a new branch of his company in Boston, and he’s not coming out here. If that isn’t a message that he wants to maintain distance, I don’t know what is.”

“Have you spoke to him directly? Asked him if he’s taking the reigns of his company in the East Coast?”

“Yes, and he said he’s staying in California.”

“It doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to be part of the twins’ lives,” she pointed out rationally, folding her arms. “Think of it this way, if _Lightspeed_ has a branch in Boston, more often than not, he will have to travel here. The twins can get to know him, they can be with their father, I don’t see why you’re being bitter,” Sabé shrugged before going still and narrowing her gaze. “Unless…” she eyed her friend. “Dammit, Padmé, you didn’t catch feelings for the guy, did you?” She groaned.

“Say that again and sound more like a high schooler.”

“That wasn’t an answer. You can’t possibly like some man you’ve saw what? Three? Four times?” Sabé gaped at her. “I knew he was trouble,” she grumbled under her breath.

“Five minutes ago, you were _suggesting_ I have sex with him!”

“ _Yes,_ to blow off some steam. Get you in a good, sappy mood!” Sabé hissed. “Not to walk down the aisle!”

“Just because I like the guy doesn’t mean I automatically want to marry him.”

Sabé threw her hands up in the air. “You know what? Stay. Don’t go to LA. Bad idea. It’s actually good he’s staying there too. I don’t need you all lovey-dovey when we’re in such a good path right now. Maybe more distance and more time will knock some sense into you. Just go be with your kids, get some sleep, and we’ll regroup in a couple of days.”

“ _Lovey-dovey,_ ” Padmé repeated, rolling her eyes. “Really.”

“Don’t you dare fall in love with the guy,” Sabé threatened. “Stop texting him. Stop everything. The last thing we want is Palpatine catching a whiff of it and ruining our lead.”

“Sabé!” Dormé called. “Are you coming? I’m hungry!”

“I am warning you, Amidala,” Sabé said narrowing her eyes while grabbing her things and following Dormé. “Behave!” She shouted over her shoulder.

Padmé sighed, taking her phone out to text her parents and tell them she’d be picking up the twins from camp. When she was done with that, her thumb hovered over Anakin’s name in the message section, then she shook her head. She’d promised Anakin she wouldn’t push him on this, and she was going to keep her word.

Even so, it had been a week since they’d last spoken. He still skyped the twins, but they didn’t need her for that. Distance was fine. Distance was acceptable.

Distance was annoying.

She took the scenic route to pick up the twins, the windows rolled down as she made her way through Boston. A few people spotted her and waved, and she waved back, since it couldn’t hurt. Driving also gave her an excuse not to look at her phone and just listen to the Disney music the kids had in the sound system. Finally, she reached the rec center and joined the queue of cars waiting to pick up the kids who were milling about, waving as she spotted Lux Bonteri.

He waved back and disappeared briefly into the crowd of kids, emerging a few minutes later with the twins. “Mommy!” Luke grinned as he climbed in the backseat. “I lost a tooth today!”

“What?!?” Padmé gasped. “Are you okay?”

“He cried,” Leia said dramatically as she followed after her brother. “There was blood. It was a mess.”

“I’m good now,” he said dismissively and grinned at his mother, showing her a gap where a tooth should have been. “Look!”

“It was just a loose tooth, Ms. Amidala,” Lux explained. “We tried to tell him not to, but he enlisted Biggs Darklighter to do the doorknob trick after he heard about the Tooth Fairy.”

“Luke, really,” Padmé sighed, shaking her head. “Baby teeth are supposed to come out in their own time.”

“But it was loose for _so_ long and when I asked D—a friend about it,” he caught himself on time after Leia widened her eyes at him. “He told me how he had gotten out an annoying loose tooth.”

“Oh, did he,” Padmé said, pursing her lips. “Do you still have the tooth?”

“It’s in my lunchbox.”

“Okay, I’ll take it from here. Say hi to your mother for me, Lux.”

“Sure thing, Ms. Amidala.” Lux waved as the twins buckled in and Padmé started driving away.

“Leia, I want you to reach into my purse and get out my phone,” Padmé instructed, keeping her eyes on the road. “We’re calling your dad.”

“Awesome!” Luke clapped.

Meanwhile, Leia, seemed to capture her mother’s tone and attitude. “Er… maybe Daddy’s working, Mommy, what if we call him later?”

“I want to show him my tooth!” Her twin complained with a whine

“It’s noon in LA, he’ll be at lunch, and this cannot wait.”

With a sigh, Leia fished her mother’s phone from her purse and held it out so Padmé could use her finger to open it. “You’re an idiot,” she muttered at Luke as she leaned back in the seat, her brother staring at her in confusion.

Padmé hit the bluetooth button on her steering wheel. “Call Anakin,” she ordered, waiting for the call to connect.

Unknown to Padmé, Anakin had just taken out his last box out of the apartment and was preparing to head to the airport. “Hi, Padmé,” he chirped, unsuspectingly. “How’s it going?”

“You taught our son the doorknob trick?” she demanded shrilly. “What is wrong with you?”

There was silence as Anakin tried to process her words. “The doorknob trick? I… oh… oh, _that._ Padmé, I had no idea he would do it, I was just sharing a childhood story,” he defended himself, cringing.

“Luke _ripped out_ his loose tooth today, Anakin. There was _blood_.”

Anakin’s stomach dropped. “Oh, no. Is he okay?” He asked worriedly.

“I’m-I’m fine, Daddy,” Luke said weakly, as Leia glared at him. “Sorry,” he whispered, looking down at his hand, understanding that he unwittingly brought his mother’s wrath on his father.

“You’re missing the point, Anakin, I would rather not have this become a regular occurence just because Luke wants a Sacagawea dollar!”

“I know, I’m sorry,” Anakin mumbled, ashamed. Not only he was being yelled at about his recently acquired parenting skills, but he was being yelled in front of the twins. “I think both Luke and I learned our lesson. Right, buddy? You won’t do the doorknob trick and I will zip it.”

“I won’t do it again, I promise. I’ll even pinky swear!” Luke nodded enthusiastically, hoping it would smooth things over.

“There you go,” Anakin sighed. “We pinky swear. Happy?”

Padmé sighed. “I’ll call you later, Anakin. We need to talk about this in more detail.”

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to take your call,” he muttered distractedly. “I have plans tonight.”

Padmé’s knuckles turned white around the steering wheel. “Plans,” she repeated.

“Yes,” he replied curtly. “I have to go. I have someone waiting for me.” From behind him, they heard a woman speaking. _‘Ani, sweetheart, we have to go.’_ “I love you, kids, we’ll skype tomorrow, alright?”

“Bye, Daddy!” the twins chorused before the call ended. Padmé took deep breaths, wishing she could close her eyes. She didn’t have any campaign events over the weekend and it _was_ Friday…

“When we get home, we’re packing,” she announced.

“Why?” Leia asked.

“Because I’m taking us to the Cape for the weekend.”

“Aww, why can’t it ever be Six Flags?” complained Luke.

“Because Six Flags is a tourist trap that’s just going to end with the two of you throwing up,” Padmé answered.

“Maybe Daddy will take us to Six Flags.”

“Daddy’s not coming until December, dummy, Six Flags is closed then,” Leia reminded him. Luke pouted. Padmé took slow breaths through her teeth, trying not to resent Anakin for essentially becoming the ‘cool’ parent as she pulled into their driveway. Her phone buzzed with a text message.

 **Anakin** : Thanks for dragging me in front of the twins.

 **Anakin** : It wasn’t at all awkward.

 **Padmé:** You’re a parent now, Anakin, you need to think about the possible consequences of your words.

 **Padmé:** I won’t apologize for addressing reckless behavior that has the potential to be harmful.

His reply took longer, and it was enough time for her to take the twins out of the car, get them in the house and start preparing them a snack.

 **Anakin** : I don’t know what’s wrong with you. I’m not saying you were not right to call me out on that, but you could have scolded me and make me feel like a child without my children listening to the entire conversation.

 **Anakin** : When I told Luke what I did, it was never my intention for him to go and do it himself. Where was the teacher? Or whoever supervises them?

 **Anakin** : What sort of reckless behavior was telling my child something that I did when I was his age? If you have to know, I did tell him my mother was very upset, as she should and as should you be.

 **Anakin** : I am sorry if my parenting skills aren’t as sharp as yours.

 **Anakin** : As you well know, I’ve been a father for three months.

 **Anakin** : Three.

 **Anakin** : Fucking.

 **Anakin** : Months.

 **Anakin** : Don’t ever yell at me in front of them.

 **Padmé:** That wasn’t yelling.

 **Padmé:** When I yell at you, Anakin Skywalker, you will want to crawl under a rock and die.

She received his reply thirty minutes later.

 **Anakin** : Whatever.

Well, that took care of any issues Sabé might have had. It was hard to think of Anakin as romantic when he was acting like a petulant child.

* * *

“Can I get you anything else?” the waitress asked as she slid Anakin’s food in front of him.

“No, thank you,” he gave her a polite smile, looking up from his tablet for a few moments. He had been studying the lecture he had given that morning. It had been nerve wracking for the first fifteen minutes, but then he’d found his groove and things had flowed easily. The auditorium had full, the Dean laughing and telling him he was well known and well loved in the school and that with his recruitment process, everyone wanted a chance to learn and be a part of Lightspeed.

Now he was just seeing if he had missed anything he would need to include in the next class. With a sigh, he locked the screen and pushed it aside. His mood had been troubled since he left LA. Last friday, after Padmé scolded him like one of the twins, he’d been inclined toward cancelling everything and staying put, but Shmi just sighed and dragged him into the cab. They hadn’t spoke the entire weekend and Anakin had busied himself with assembling furniture and taking care of boxes.

He had no idea how he was supposed to surprise them now. He was afraid she would bite his head off for not heading his words. He felt awful at the prospect that Luke could have gotten seriously injured.

The sound of a plate on the tabletop made him turn to see a piece of red velvet cake being slid in front of him. “From the lady at the bar,” the waiter who’d brought it said, gesturing with his head.

Anakin frowned and turned to where the waiter was signaling, eyes widening. Well, he didn’t have to plan any surprise now. Padmé was sitting there, waving at him sheepishly. “Hey,” she mouthed.

“Thank you,” he nodded at the waiter and leaned back in his chair, giving Padmé a raised eyebrow, basically daring her to make the first move. She gestured to the open seat next to her at the bar. He gestured back at the empty seat in front of him.  There was a long minute that seemed to stretch into an hour before she finally moved to his table with a sigh.

“It was supposed to be an apology cake.”

“Ah,” he nodded slowly, eating a few of his fries. “For scolding me in front of my kids or for accusing me of reckless behaviour and intentional purpose of scarring Luke?” He questioned.

“Both, I guess,” she admitted. “I was kind of stressed, it was a long day, I was coming out of debate prep, I lost my cool.”

“I would suggest boxing,” he said. “But I’m not your punching bag,” he pointed a fry at her before placing it on his mouth and chewing. “I really wasn’t counting on being dragged like that. Sure, you were right to be upset. Luke could have been really hurt. But you could have done it _later._ Privately. Also, replying back to my rant with an ‘you will want to crawl under a rock and die when I yell at you…’ not cool,” he pointed out with a small scowl, picking up his burger to take a bite. He remembered showing the message to his Mom and Shmi telling him to take a deep breath before replying.

“I’m sorry,” she repeated.

He just nodded, unable to forgive her just yet. “Did you take him to the dentist?”

“No, just made him spend the night with a wet cotton ball in the gap. The tooth was coming out soon anyway.”

“Good,” he replied with a small smile.

“So, what brings you to Cambridge? Already headhunting interns?”

Anakin didn’t reply immediately, just took another bite and chewed slowly, while lifting his shoulders at her question. He placed the burger down on his plate before taking a sip of juice. “It was all part of something I have been planning for the past three months and that I nearly cancelled last Friday,” he gave her a pointed look. “I’m not only doing a recruitment process for the new office, but I am giving a few lectures at MIT as well. Also...” he took another bite and chewed slowly, his blue eyes fixed on her, “...I’m living in Cambridge.”

She blinked slowly. “You moved here.”

“I did.” He confirmed. “Of course, if you do decide to _yell_ at me, I think rocks that will fit my size are only in LA, so let’s see how it goes.” Anakin joked with a roll of his eyes.

“I...” She paused, shaking her head. “Why didn’t you just tell me?”

“I wanted it to be a surprise,” he answered. “I thought you would eventually find out. I was setting up a Lightspeed office and I had decided to be a part of the twins’ lives. It was not a difficult choice. I was supposed to arrive on Friday, get my mom into a cab and catch another one to your apartment and do a big thing but… well, the mood was not the same.”

“Well, I mean, we can still do a good surprise for the twins,” she suggested. “Maybe we can still make this work.”

“Of course I still want to surprise them. But I also wanted to surprise you, but I had a feeling if I showed up, you would kill me, so… but yeah, we can still see how we can surprise them.”

“Anakin, I would never try to kill you,” she sighed, reaching over to touch his hand. The little bit of contact sent a brief shock through both their systems. “And I’m really sorry I ever gave you that impression. You...”

He took her hand and unconsciously ran his thumb over her palm. “You were worried about Luke. I understand.”

“You were just trying to help.” She bit her lip. “And I— _we’ve_ really missed you.”

“I missed you too. All three of you. My life hasn’t been the same since I left Boston in May.”

Padmé kept biting her lip. “Maybe things will be easier. Now that we’re in the same state.”

“I’m positive it will. I can help you a lot more with the twins, I can’t wait to spend more time with them. I want them to be a part of building this new branch of Lightspeed, after all, it will be their legacy one day,” he smiled, showing that the dark cloud that had hovered over him over their quarrel had dissipated. His thumb reach lower, to rub soothing circles above the pulse point at her wrist. “I also haven’t stopped thinking about you.” Anakin confessed.

“About that night?” she murmured in agreement. “Neither have I. It actually made a bit of an issue for me with my chief of staff. She accused me of going ‘lovey-dovey’ over you.”

“That night was… something else,” he pulled his hand away, leaning back to create a bit of distance. She had a tendency to cloud his judgement. “Your chief of staff sounds… judgemental,” he smirked. “Just because you are running for Senate, you can’t do anything else? It sounds mean.”

“She sees you as a liability and potential scandal waiting to happen,” Padmé corrected as a waiter brought her lasagna and glass of iced tea. “It’s why I hired her. But you’re right, it is a pain.”

“Funny, my lawyer thinks the same about you. Is she single? We could set them up and they would be each other’s problem”

“She’s _is_ single. But she is also very gay.”

Anakin pursed his lips. “I’ll let you know if my sister breaks up with her current girlfriend.”

“Cute, Skywalker,” she sighed. “Anakin, what do you want to do about what happened? About us?”

“Have an encore?” He said cheekily, grabbing a few of his fries and putting them in his mouth.

“Is that all?”

He leaned forward, becoming more serious. “Are you asking me to define us?”

“I’m asking if you want us to be defined,” she answered, fiddling with the silver chain of her necklace. “I’m asking if you can see us being more than an encore, and if that’s what you want.”

“This is not just about what I want,” he said with a small smile. “We did spend an amazing night together and yes, I haven’t stopped thinking about you but do we want this? The both of us? Do we want to complicate an already complicated situation?”

“I have never felt about a guy the way I feel about you,” Padmé admitted softly. “And I want to see where it goes. If we’re complicated no matter what, why not throw in the towel and be complicated together?”

“You make some very good points, Congresswoman,” he chuckled. “I do want to see where it goes. I do want to be with you and explore what we have between us.”

“So maybe,” she paused, sucking in a breath and taking a few bites of her lunch as she formed her next sentence, “maybe, this is where we start, as far as the world is concerned. We ran into each other getting lunch at a diner, I bought you a piece of cake because I was flirting with you, and you gave me your number because it was dorky and cute?”

“Leaving the fact that I am the twins’ biological father out of the equation?”Anakin tilted his head to the side. “It makes sense,” he nodded. “We can keep that to ourselves. Avoid a scandal.” He chewed on a fry thoughtfully. “The diner story is cute, relatable. Unsuspicious. It’s a good idea.”

“We can work that out at some point, but the twins won’t say boo if we don’t want them to,” Padmé pointed out. “And we have the wiggle room now that I know you’re here. This could work.”

“Are you sure your chief of staff won’t take me out of the picture?” He teased. “She sounds savage.”

“Sabé works for me, and she needs to remember that,” Padmé answered with a smirk.

“Padmé Amidala, dating a start-up genius, a thirty under thirty favorite. It should make for some very interesting headlines.”

“Well, it’s certainly one way to keep me in the news cycle,” she laughed. “I promise not to abuse that and turn you into arm candy.”

He threw a fry at her. “Who are you calling arm candy?” He joked with a chuckle. “No, I know I’ll have more visibility and I promise not to embarrass you or do anything to provoke the wrath of your chief of staff.”

She took a pen and one of her business cards out of her purse, writing her number on it and spinning it between her fingers. “Keep talking like that and maybe I’ll give this to you at the end of the meal.”

“I already have your number,” he quipped.

“Shhh, it’s cute,” she scolded, rolling her eyes. “And we’re working a narrative here, remember? This is evidence.”

Anakin snatched the card out of her hand. “Then I’ll think about giving you a call, Congresswoman,” he said with a cheeky smile.

“Just don’t let it be too late at night, I do have kids.”

“Uh, _kids_ ,” he pretended to be awkward. “I’ll have to think about that…”

“They’re very cute,” she teased. “But there’s no pressure for you to meet them any time soon.”

“Cute, huh? Must take after their father,” he stage whispered.

“I wouldn’t know, I’ve never met the guy. But are you insinuating that _I’m_ not cute?”

“Oh no, I would never make such insinuations,” Anakin smirked. “I would define you as beautiful, Congresswoman. Absolutely stunning.”

“Oh, do go on.” She reached out and took a gob of frosting from the cake with her finger, drawing out the process of licking it clean with a smirk of her own.

“That’s mean,” he narrowed his eyes. “We are in a public place. I have to keep some distance,” Anakin pouted. “Otherwise, I would be doing the _cake thing_.” He whispered so she would be the only one hearing him.

Padmé tilted her head coyly, as if she didn’t understand every filthy implication he was making. “Turnabout is fair play, Mr. Skywalker.”

“Don’t make me drag you into a public bathroom and fuck you,” he threatened, blue eyes darkening. “I’ll do it. Don’t tempt me.”

Padmé lowered her finger, sighing dramatically. “Okay, you make a valid point. I’ll stop and we can just talk.”

“Right now I want to do a lot of things. Talking is not one of them,” he sighed and leaned back, taking the plate with the cake and fork with him. “But fine. Talking is reasonable. For now,” he made a great show of biting down on the cake and licking the frosting from his lips.

“I’m in Boston for about a week and a half more,” she told him. “Then I have to head back to DC for a bit. What does your Labor Day look like right now? Think you could make some time then to meet my kids? Or do you need a bigger window to prepare?”

“My Labor Day is very free at the moment. I think I can make time to meet your kids if you have the time to meet my mother,” he smiled.

“At the same time?” she confirmed softly.

“At the same time.” He grinned. “You know, my mom has been dying to meet the twins. And you. I might have spent ninety percent of the last three months talking about you guys.”

“Oh, really? What was the other ten percent?”

“Technobabble,” he said sheepishly. “And worrying that that one night had been a heat of the moment kind of thing and we were cooling down and maybe realizing it had been a mistake.”

“I mean, three months is a long time to let things cool down. It’s no seven years, but it’s a while.” She laughed. “My ratio was probably the opposite, but with politics instead of technobabble.”

“Getting back to that encore thing…” he started and covered her hand with his. “We’re not waiting until Labor Day… are we?”

“I mean,” she paused, playing with her hair. “Maybe not _that_ long, but I’m busy tonight. Campaign event.”

“Fine, maybe not tonight, but you’re owing me an encore, Amidala,” he said huskily before his eyes came alight with an idea. “Oh! I can be the twins’ babysitter. Like, I can surprise them like that! I can even take them to my new house and show them around!” Anakin jumped. “Pleeease?”

“I mean, they’re supposed to go to my sister tonight,” Padmé said hesitantly. “I guess I can try to talk her out of it.”

“Of course, you can. You can sell ice to penguins. You’ll do fine.”

“I don’t know, I think I need to take the rest of the meal to be convinced,” she laughed.

“That’s not fair, my best convincing techniques cannot be used in public… at least for now,” his eyes were filled with mischief as his sly smile told her everything she needed to know about the techniques he was speaking about. “But I will just have to use my words, won’t I?”

“Could I get you two anything else?” The waiter came by, smiling at the two of them, and gathered the plates.

“Just the check, please,” Anakin requested.

“Separate bills?”

“No, everything together,” he replied before Padmé spoke. “Thank you.” The waiter nodded and left them alone again. “It’s only fair that you flirted and I _insisted_ on paying the bill. Because I’m an old-fashioned gentleman like that.”

“Fine, but only because I’ll be covering it next time,” she said, sighing dramatically.

“In the interest of keeping appearances,” he quipped. “Would you give me the honor of going on a first date with me? I can take you to dinner tomorrow, after we are both done with our work, what do you say?”

“Anything that has a vegetarian menu would be lovely,” she said with a smile. “I’m looking forward to getting to know you better.”

“I think you know me pretty well,” he said cheekily, covering her hand with his and giving it a small squeeze as the waiter came by with the bill and Anakin thanked him. “But I know what you mean and I feel the same. Do you want to surprise the twins and have me their babysitter tonight, while you go campaigning for a better world?”

“Hmm,” Padmé smiled softly. “Okay, I guess I could use a hot babysitter. Six o’clock?”

“Babysitter kink, Ms. Amidala? I can work with that,” he said slyly. “I'll be there.”

* * *

“I hate wearing shirts like these,” Luke complained, tugging at the collar of his black polo shirt. Padmé ignored him, pacing back and forth as she recited her talking points under her breath. “Mommy, can’t I wear my airplane shirt instead?”

“Deal with this,” Sabé hissed as she passed Anakin. “We don’t have time, and she needs to focus.”

Anakin threw a glare at his girlfriend’s chief of staff. There was a mutual dislike that had et to dissipate. Sabé, even after two months, still found him a liability, and Anakin found her unbearable. He finished Leia’s braid and kissed the top of her head, before tugging Luke closer to him.

“You look handsome, Luke, and we need to look smart for Mommy,” Anakin said warmly. “Do you think I like wearing this?” He waved at himself, wearing a sharp black suit, with a white shirt and a sapphire blue tie. “I hate ties, but it will make Mommy look good.”

“You look pretty, D—Ani,” Leia said helpfully, skipping briefly over what she considered his ‘real’ name. The twins had been delighted by his move across the country, but less thrilled that they had to call him Anakin in public. The fact that they’d started using his mother’s nickname felt a bit like revenge on their part. “It looks like Mommy’s dress.”

“Mommy does look really pretty, doesn’t she?” He said wistfully, staring at his worried girlfriend. “What do you say, Luke, can we all be pretty tonight? You can wear your airplane shirt tomorrow!”

Luke hesitated, then sighed. “Okay.”

“Anakin, if you want, you can head out to your seats now,” Dormé suggested. “I can moderate a short interview with one of the smaller stations, provided you’re comfortable with it.”

“No stranger to interviews, Dormé, I’ll be fine,” he gave her a beaming smile. _Dormé,_ he liked. _Sabé,_ however, was a different case. He often felt the urge to throw her out of a window!

“Okay, I’ll still be right there if you change your mind. Just tug your ear.” Dormé held out a hand, gesturing for them to follow. “Luke, Leia, come on.”

“Are there gonna be commercial breaks if we need to potty?” Luke asked.

“No, there aren’t, so you should have someone take you now if you need to,” Dormé answered.

“I’m good,” Leia replied.

“Me too,” Luke eventually agreed.

Anakin adjusted his tie and turned to look at Padmé again. She was so nervous, but she had no reason to be. Anakin knew she was going to tear down Palpatine. Padmé’s numbers were great and she was still in the lead, no matter how many times Sabé hissed that their relationship would distract the voters and negatively impact Padmé’s campaign. Anakin had taken more than a few times to be smug about the fact that she was wrong.

The twins grabbed his hands, tugging him out of the studio and toward the stage. Padmé’s parents were already sitting in the family section, whispering to each other, but they stopped when they saw Anakin and the twins, waving politely. Luke let go of Anakin’s hand and ran ahead. “Hi, Grammy! Hi, Poppa!”

“Hi, Luke,” Jobal said with a smile, nodding at Anakin as he approached with Leia. “Excited for tonight?”

“Yep!” Leia said, climbing up the stairs to her seat.

“Hello, Anakin,” Ruwee said gruffly.

“Mr. and Mrs. Naberrie, lovely to see you,” Anakin said politely as he sat down, the twins between their father and their grandparents.

“Anakin,” Jobal said with a smile as she ruffled Luke’s hair. “I’m glad you could be here for Padmé.” A slender girl who looked a little like Ahsoka—although that might have just been Anakin missing his sister— approached.

“You’re Mr. Skywalker, right?” she asked Anakin.

“Yes, yes I am.” He smiled politely at her. “Nice to meet you, Miss…?”

“Apailana,” she answered. “WHDH, Dormé Natgane said I could speak with you before the debate?”

“Of course. Please, sit down,” he offered her the seat next to his. She took the seat, pulling a small recorder out of her bag and switching it on.

“You’re the Anakin Skywalker who founded Lightspeed Industries, right? You just opened an office here in Boston?”

“Yes and yes.”

“And is that how you know the Congresswoman? Did she and the Governor make an effort to bring you here, rather than another location, like New York?”

“I’ve met Padmé in a little family diner by the campus. I had just arrived in Boston to give a couple of lectures at MIT. On my first lunch between classes, I was lucky enough to be in the right place, at the right time,” Anakin replied easily. “I never thought about opening a new office in New York. After LA, it was always Boston. This is where I lived for a long time, getting my education and it’s where the first steps of Lightspeed were taken.”

“So, the rumors are true? You and the Congresswoman are dating?”

“We are, yes,” he confirmed, beaming.

“And do you think it’s going well so far?”

Anakin grinned from ear to ear. “So far, so good. We’re doing amazing together.”

“He lets us order pizza when Mommy’s out for the night!” Leia chirped, and Apailana laughed.

“So, I take it you like the kids too,” she prompted.

“As if they were my own,” he replied and winked at them. “They are the sweetest things. Padmé is an amazing mother and I envy how she balances her work and her personal life. She is a professional at it.

“Have the two of you started making a plan for what happens if she wins?”

“For _when_ she wins. Yes, we’ve been talking but we’re not going to rush into anything. We enjoy being together and we love how things are progressing. We’ll see what comes next.”

“Luke, Leia, how do you like your mom’s boyfriend? Are you okay with sharing her?”

“He’s pretty cool and he knows a bunch of cool stuff,” Luke replied.

“Did I mention he actually lets us eat junk food?” Leia smirked.

Anakin chuckled, but knew he was going to get yelled at later. It was worth it and besides, he knew _she_ knew.

“We really love Anakin.” Luke continued and Leia nodded. “We want him to stay forever.”

“And ever.” Leia added.

“I think I’m approved,” Anakin mused.

“It would certainly seem that way. Thank you very much for letting me talk with you tonight.”

“It was my pleasure. Thank you for having the time.”

“Bye!” The twins chorused and waved.

“You handled that very well,” Jobal complimented, passing each of the twins a strawberry candy. “But really, Anakin? Junk food?”

“Good behavior needs to be rewarded,” he said cheekily, remembering that also bribing them with pizza would get them to obey and do things faster. “But it was mean to rat me out like that, Princess,” he replied with a pout.

“I wasn’t trying to!” Leia protested as the voice on the loudspeaker called for everyone to take their seats. “It’s starting!” she squealed.

“Welcome to a debate between Massachusetts Senatorial candidates, Democratic Representative Padmé Naberrie and Republican former Governor Sheev Palpatine…” As the moderator addressed the camera, Luke reached over and tugged at Anakin’s sleeve.

“Palpatine scares me,” he whispered. “I think he eats kids.”

“I’ll protect you,” he smiled reassuringly, not wanting to scare his kids by saying he agreed.

“...Let’s welcome the candidates now,” the moderator finished. The twins started whooping as Padmé emerged from one side of the hall and Palpatine from the other.

“Go, Mommy!” Leia yelled. Luke stuck his fingers in his mouth and whistled while Anakin clapped at her side, having more restraint than his five-year-old twins. Padmé smiled softly and waved at them as she crossed to shake Palpatine’s hand, then took her place at her podium.

“We’ll begin with the opening statements. Governor Palpatine, you won the coin toss, so you will be going first. You have one minute.”

Palpatine started talking in his slow, creaky voice about how good a job he’d done as Governor, how Massachusetts deserved to be held up as a pinnacle of American values, and how he planned to make that happen. Padmé’s knuckles turned white on her podium and Leia rolled her eyes dramatically. Anakin sighed and leaned back. Palpatine should realize he was a creepy, old man who had nothing else to give but chills and nightmares to little kids. Finally, the minute was up, and the moderator prompted Padmé to give her opening statement.

She tilted her head slightly and took a deep breath. “Serving my community has been a pillar of my life since the year I started kindergarten and Girl Scouts. Massachusetts is a wonderful state, one that has grown and changed since the first settlers arrived in 1620. As a member of the House, I have striven to improve life, not just for the people of this state, but for the people of this nation. And the way we do that is by learning from each other. If elected, I promise to continue the pact I made when I was first elected to Congress, to first and foremost represent the people I have been elected to serve, to listen even to those I disagree with, and consider every option so that we can give the people what they need rather than what they want.”

Padmé’s speech got a very excited reaction from the audience. The twins were bouncing with excitement and both her parents and boyfriend were beaming with pride. Palpatine, however, looked like he had just been struck and was scowling at his adversary.

“Our first question is about healthcare…” As the moderator talked, Padmé took a moment to look at Anakin, giving him a wink and a smile. If she was still nervous, there was no indication of that now.


	5. Chapter 5

“Okay, kisses.” Padmé bent down to hug the twins one more time. “I will Skype you guys tonight so we can do our menorah lighting together. Make sure Anakin’s ready by then.”

“We will, Mommy,” Leia said.

“We’ll miss you,” Luke added.

“I miss you already.” She kissed them each on both cheeks, then stood up to hug Anakin. “Be good, okay?” she teased, putting a hand on his shoulder.

“I am always good,” he replied kissing her cheek. “Come back soon, okay?”

“Aside from that time you nearly burned down my kitchen.”

“I got distracted,” he rolled his eyes. “You know I’m a pretty decent cook.”

“Yeah, sure.” She rolled her eyes back and gave him a peck on the lips. “I’ll be back next Friday afternoon, assuming nothing goes insane down in Washington. You can survive that long, right?”

“Of course,” he kissed her more properly, making the twins snicker. “I love you,” Anakin whispered against her lips.

“Love you too, sweetheart.” Padmé made a face as she glanced at the doors and the waiting TSA line. “Well, this is going to be fun.”

“Make sure you ask what kind of plane it is!” Luke shouted as his mother headed into the tangle of other airport patrons trying to navigate Logan. Once Padmé disappeared from view, he looked up at Anakin eagerly. “Can we go shopping now?”

“Yes,” Anakin replied, just as eagerly, holding on to the twins’ hands. “We have to find the perfect one, you guys understand?”

Leia nodded severely. “We should see if we can get one made special. Not just any boring one like in a commercial.”

“That’s a good idea,” Anakin said. “We can design it ourselves, to be a unique one, just like Mommy is unique for us.”

Leia tapped Luke on the shoulder. “Race you there!” she said, running for the backseat of Anakin’s car.

“No fair!” Luke shouted, chasing after her.

“Kids! What have I told you?” Anakin sighed and jogged after them. “No running!” They completely ignored him, tussling over the door handle. Why neither of them tried to get in from the other side, he couldn’t say.

“Sir, is that your car?” one of the airport staff asked. “You’ve been parked for a while, we really need to keep things moving.”

“I apologize, let me just get the kids inside,” he said apologetically before approaching the twins. “Stop!” He asked and got between them, opening the door himself. “Get inside and strapped in before I receive a ticket for being here too long. And _no_ fighting. Or no shopping.”

Leia stuck out her tongue at Luke and climbed in. “I got there first!” she bragged as she fastened her seatbelt.

“Awww,” Luke whined, following her in with a pout. “You cheated.”

“I’m smart,” Leia corrected smugly. “Do we still get to go shopping?”

“I will think about it if you are capable of being nice to each other for thirty minutes,” he replied closing the door after them and jogging to his seat, entering and fastening his seatbelt. “Agreed?” He asked, staring at them through the rearview mirror.

“It doesn’t take thirty minutes to get into the city,” Luke said with a frown. “Are we getting lunch first?”

“I can be good if we get Friendly’s,” Leia counter-offered.

“No, I was thinking about a healthy option first,” Anakin quipped. “Only kids who behave themselves get to eat junk food.”

“But, _Daddy_ —”

Luke elbowed his sister in the ribs and zipped his lips shut, giving Anakin the most angelic smile possible. “We’ll be good.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’ve heard that before,” he said teasingly.

“You can’t zip your lips, _then_ talk,” Leia muttered, only for Luke to shush her. “I’m sorry, Daddy. I’ll be good.”

After fifteen minutes of peace, Anakin decided that he couldn’t stomach a lunch without solving their little shopping first, so the twins were surprised when he parked near the jewelry store they’ve been talking about for a while.

“Alright, let’s get this done first and then go for lunch.” He announced, turning around to smile at them. “Let’s design the perfect ring for Mommy!”

“Yes!” Leia pumped her fist in the air. “Awesome!”

“I’m nervous,” Luke admitted. “That’s a fancy store, I bet they don’t like kids in there.”

“You want to know a secret?” Anakin raised his eyebrow. The twins shared a glance and nodded slowly. “When you are willing to spend a _lot_ of money in their store, they will like kids. They will love you and give you whatever you want. So don’t worry,” he winked. “We are spending a lot of money.” He opened the car door and left, opening the backseat one so the twins could exit the car.

“A hundred dollars?” Leia guessed. “That’s how much Hanukkah money we’ve got saved in our piggy bank! We can give it to you if that’s gonna help.”

“I could never take your savings,” Anakin said, completely melting at his daughter’s generosity. “That is for your things. For something that you two want. But I am very proud of you for offering that,” he kissed her forehead.

“I’m using my half to buy an airplane,” Luke mumbled as they walked up to the door of the store. “After Grammy and Poppa give us this year’s Hanukkah money.”

“An airplane, huh? That’s an amazing plan. What about your cut, Leia, what will you be doing?”

“I’m saving it so I can buy my own White House.”

“That’s impressive, I can’t wait to see it,” Anakin smiled as the three walked into the store. “Ready to do this?” He whispered to them. They nodded very seriously as one of the women from behind the counter moved towards them.

“Can I help you, sir?” she asked with a stiff smile, blatantly not looking at the twins.

“Yes. We need to design an engagement ring.” Anakin requested, raising one eyebrow at her attitude. “Please.” He added.

“Do you have a budget?”

“No.” He replied looking around. “I will spend whatever I need to.”

The woman’s smile immediately grew a lot more gracious. Leia and Luke rolled their eyes at her. “Of course, sir. Would you like me to set you up with one of our designers? Or would you like to browse what we have on display first? A ready-made piece might be better if you’re on a tight schedule.”

“A ready-made piece is not unique. I am sure that the tight schedule can be arranged for a certain amount. I would like to have the ring ready by Friday and an appointment with your best designer in the next half an hour, please,” he requested.

“Sir, that’s not really possible, custom pieces take a month at minimum,” the girl protested. “And we do have a great selection already…”

“What do you two say? Do we choose one already made?” Anakin sighed and turned to the twins.

“It won’t be unique,” Leia complained.

“Yeah, it won’t be the same,” Luke muttered, starting to wander away.

“But you wanted to do it for Christmas, right?” added Leia, looking up at Anakin. “That’s not enough time for it to be then. Or even New Year’s! We’d have to wait till Valentine’s Day! That’s _forever._ ”

“Hey,” Luke said, pointing at one of the display cabinets. “Look over here. I found something.” His finger guided Anakin and Leia’s gaze to a silver ring that looked a bit like a rose, made of twisting strands of white gems.

“Could you show us that ring, please?” Anakin asked. The woman smiled and nodded, slipping on a pair of gloves before reaching into the case to get the ring.

“We’ve been reviving some of our older designs with our new philosophy. They’re all white sapphires, conflict-free, and made right here by our in-house team,” she explained, turning it so that Anakin could get a better look at it in the light. “We actually just put it on the shelf today, first one of its kind.”

“That means it’s unique, D--Ani,” Leia whispered.

“It’s _sooo_ pretty!” Luke marveled, looking very proud of himself for finding it.

“It is gorgeous,” Anakin agreed. “Vintage but with a modern touch, I really like it. Could I hold it for a moment please?”  The girl nodded and held it out for him to take.

“Just be careful, please.”

“I wanna see too!” Leia chirped, trying to jump up and get a better look.

“ _Please_ ,” the girl repeated.

Anakin chuckled. “I will,” he said and took the ring carefully from the girl’s fingers and then crouched down to the twins’ height. “It’s very beautiful and I can see your Mom wearing it. Don’t you agree?”

“It’s perfect,” Leia whispered, looking at the saleswoman. “Would it cost extra for us make sure you don’t make this for anyone else?” Anakin raised his eyebrows at her.

“Umm,” the girl swallowed in surprise. “Well, I could check with my boss.”

“Could you please do it?” Anakin asked, standing to his full height. “If he agrees, we’ll take it.”

“I’ll have this put on hold for you, sir.” the girl promised, taking the ring back from him with a smile. “I just need to get a name and number so we can contact you.”

“If it’s not by the end of the day, I’ll search somewhere else,” he said lightly as he took a business card out of his pocket and slid it to the girl. “There’s my personal number.”

“Thank you, Mr. Skywalker, I’ll do my best to call before we close,” the girl promised, looking a little nervous. She was probably worried about losing a potential client. “Have a nice day.”

“Does this mean we get Friendly’s now?” Leia asked, grabbing Anakin’s hand.

“What if we go to McDonald’s?” He countered with a smile.

“Cheesecake Factory!” Luke suggested.

“I’ll go to McDonald’s if we can get McFlurries,” Leia said. “Can we?”

“You can, but if you tell your Mom, we’re getting salad until the end of the year,” he chuckled. Both twins groaned and rolled their eyes.

* * *

“Mr. Skywalker?” Liam, one of the MIT interns stuck his head in the door. “We need you in the conference room.”

Anakin looked up from his laptop and nodded, getting up and following Liam. “Is there a problem? Oh God, the servers are down, aren’t they?” He feared.

“Not exactly, sir,” Liam said, and Anakin thought he might have heard a snicker or two as they reached the main conference room. For some reason, it was pitch black when he walked in. Then the lights switched on and he was nearly deafened by a loud _SURPRISE._ Followed by someone very familiar running to hug him.

“Hey, Skyguy,” Ahsoka said into his chest. “Missed ya.”

“Oh my God,” he laughed and wrapped his arms around his little sister. “Oh my _God,_ Snips, I _missed_ you so much! What is this?” He kept laughing, looking around the decorated conference room.

“Thirty under Thirty party,” Shmi answered, moving through the crowd to reveal a cake she was holding and setting it down on the table. “We’ve been planning this since the list came out in November. Congratulations, honey.”

“You are all amazing,” he shook his head and pulled his mother in for a hug as well, kissing the top of her head. “This party is as much for me as it is for all of you.” Anakin said. “That cake, however, looks delicious and I might call dibs on every crumb,” he snickered.

“Dude, _not cool_ ,” Ahsoka complained. “Maybe I _won’t_ move out here after all.”

“Are you serious? You’re moving to Boston?” He held her by the shoulders, eyes sparkling. “That’s for real?”

“Are you going to eat all the cake?”

“Definitely not,” he grinned.

“Then yeah, I’m moving to Boston. It’s about time I met your girlfriend,” Ahsoka laughed. “Is it true she’s converting you to Judaism?”

“Half-true, but yes, I am starting to celebrate some festivities I wasn’t before. I think she’ll love you and oh, the twins will be absolutely delighted!”

“I’m gonna have so much fun corrupting them,” Ahsoka cackled as Shmi started slicing the cake and distributing it onto plates. “I’m so proud of you, big brother.”

“Thank you,” he kissed her forehead. “Things with Barris didn’t work, then?” Anakin asked her gently.

Ahsoka shrugged. “She wanted to move in, I thought it was too soon, it just kind of fizzled out from there. I’m over it. Kind of been flirting online with a girl here in Boston.”

“Oh, really? Hmm, when do I get to meet her and give her my approval?”

“Since when do I need your approval on my girlfriends?”

“I’m your older brother. I need to know with whom my little sister hangs out,” he pointed out as Shmi passed each of them a slice. Red velvet. He smiled. “Besides, I’ve met a few women here in Boston and trust me, I want to know who you’re dating before you end up with someone with a stick up her ass and with a mean attitude.”

“Yeah, that is not what Sabine’s like.” Ahsoka slammed her mouth shut as she realized what she’d said.

“I have a name. Good,” he said smugly. “I hope Sabine makes you want to stay here for a very long time. Life is not the same without you.”

“Shut up,” Ahsoka rolled her eyes. “Someday, you’re gonna be dealing with your own kids dating, and I hope they make you miserable.”

Anakin just gaped at her. “Don’t say something like that, it’s mean. The thought of Leia with a boyfriend is inconceivable.”

“Betcha a hundred bucks right now that it’s gonna happen,” she said smugly. Before Anakin could answer, his phone started ringing in his pocket, Padmé’s ringtone. “You gonna get that?” Ahsoka asked, snagging a corner piece of the cake.

He left the conference room to go into the hall and answered. “Hey, you!”

“Hey, how’s the party?” Padmé asked.

“You knew about the party?” He chuckled.

“I was in on the planning. I thought it might be a good thing to cheer you up, what with me being gone for the first half of the month,” she admitted. “Did it work?”

“Yes,” Anakin laughed. “I am so happy to see Ahsoka and knowing she’s moving here makes me feel so much better, but I still miss you like crazy.”

“I miss you too, babe,” she sighed. “Unfortunately, it looks like we’re not going to be getting out early, which makes me really mad. It’s not the same watching you guys light the menorah on Skype.”

“But it’s still something,” he said with a light voice. “You’ll be with us, in a way. Also, we knew it was going to get complicated managing our agendas, but we promised we would work it out for our sake and the kids’ too.”

“Have you gotten the hang of dreidel yet, or are the kids still kicking your ass?” Padmé teased.

He sighed. “They still best me at it. They’re pretty smug about it too. But I’ve been teaching them Mario Kart, so it’s fine, I get to be smug about that one.”

“Uh-huh.” Padmé exhaled. “I gotta go, honey, the recess is almost up. But I love you, and I’ll call you tonight. Okay?”

“I love you too. Kick their ass,” he smiled.

“Doing my best. Bye!” The call ended.

* * *

“Gimel! Ha!” Pooja laughed, swiping up the pile of chocolate from the center of the circle as the twins scowled.

“You’re going down,” Leia promised, cracking her knuckles.

“Just accept it, cousin, your winning streak ends tonight,” Ryoo said, not looking up from her iPad.

“Says the girl who stopped playing because she always loses,” Luke retorted. “Come on, Daddy, we can beat her!”

“Kids, that’s enough. It’s almost dinner anyway.” Darred scolded, moving in to break up the fight before it started. “You have my undying respect, Anakin, we didn’t think you’d last all eight nights.”

Anakin laughed. “Well, I’m having more fun than I expected and it’s great.” He looked to the twins playing with their cousins. “It’s great to be able to share this with them.”

“They’ll break you eventually,” Sola predicted as she started putting plates on the table. “They break everyone, even Padmé. Sharing DNA does not exempt you.”

“I think I can manage,” Anakin snickered and left the cousins to their games, joining Padmé’s sister and brother-in-law. “They’re pretty spectacular,” he told them. “I’m amazed every day by them. It’s something mind blowing. Maybe because for five years I wasn’t here? I don’t know.”

“Yeah, the novelty does wear off when they go to the bathroom all over you,” Darred chuckled.

“They are already potty trained, so, I don’t think I’ll have those issues,” he chuckled along Darred, but in a way, he felt something break a little inside of them. Of not having those memories, those moments. Maybe picking up a naked Luke and having him pee all over his shirt right before he was going out for a meeting and was already running late? Or maybe Leia throwing a tantrum. Those were nightmares for parents, but the truth was… Padmé did the hard work. They were well-behaved, intelligent and educated children. He was not responsible for that. “Though, I wouldn’t have minded,” he added after.

“Babysit a six month old, you’ll change your tune,” Sola predicted with a laugh.

“Maybe,” Anakin replied but knew that if he had the chance of being part of their lives from the beginning, he would take it.

“Anakin, do you have a moment?” Ruwee asked, interrupting the banter. “I’d like to talk with you in my study.”

“Oh, honey, not now, I’m just getting the brisket out,” Jobal complained.

“It shouldn’t take long, sweetheart.”

“Of course, Mr. Naberrie,” Anakin replied, following Ruwee as the rest of the family prepared for dinner. Suddenly, he felt nervous. Ruwee was, after all, Padmé’s father and Anakin was the new addition to the family and had yet to find his comfort zone around him. “Is everything alright?”

“I think it is,” Ruwee answered, shutting the door behind them. “I simply wanted to have a sort of check-in with you, son.”

“Oh,” Anakin’s shoulders fell forward as he relaxed. “Oh, no, everything is fine. Really. Since I have your attention, I should ask you something.”

“You’re sure everything’s fine?” the older man prodded gently. “You’ve been performing like a champ, but we all know you didn’t exactly plan to suddenly get two five-year-olds.”

“It’s not every day a woman like Padmé shows at your office and tells you she had your offspring. It can be daunting and terrifying, yes, but I’m glad she found me and gave me the option of being a part of their lives,” Anakin sat down in one of the armchairs. “In the past months, my life changed in all the ways I didn’t know I needed. I thought I was happy and complete in LA, but I wasn’t. Your daughter gave me the family I always craved, if I get to be so honest,” he sighed. “To think I could have gone longer… decades… without knowing them… to me, it’s inconceivable, I would have never forgiven myself. It was my choice, after all, to donate,” he rambled.

“Whatever you were going to ask me, don’t.”

“Why? I mean, I know Padmé will call it old-fashioned and a tradition that’s obsolete—”

“And patriarchal, and regressive,” Ruwee finished. “And this is about her, isn’t it? Not me. Shouldn’t matter what I think. Do what she would want.”

“I did fall in love with her from the first moment, you know?” Anakin smiled.

“She does have that effect on people.”

“I wish I had met her sooner. Maybe she wouldn’t have needed a donor to have the twins. We could have been a family from the beginning.” He sighed. “I know people complain about the diapers and tantrums and sleepless nights but… I didn’t get to be part of that life they had. They are wonderful. But the credit is all Padmé’s and that’s a little bittersweet. Does it make me sound awful?”

“You’re both young, you have time to talk about having kids the traditional way, if that’s what you want. But if you’d met her six years ago, Anakin, maybe your entire life would have been different, maybe you wouldn’t have started your company,” Ruwee countered. “No use in dwelling on what can’t be changed, not when there’s a full future in play.”

“I know.” He smiled. “I know, it just gets me thinking sometimes. Lightspeed is a huge part of me. Of who I am and what I’ve accomplished. Now it’s the twins’ legacy too. If they want. I mean, I already know Leia is planning her Presidential campaign, or at least, brainstorming ideas for when the time comes,” he snickered.

“She’s behind schedule. Her mother had posters made by age four.” Ruwee chuckled. “Come on, we have a hungry family waiting.”

* * *

 

“We’re not late, are we?” Padmé asked as she and the twins stepped through the door with their overnight bags and a flurry of snow. “We wanted to give you plenty of time for the church stuff.”

“Oh, my _God,_ there you are!” Ahsoka gushed, running to hug the twins. Both of them squeaked a little at the veritable stranger hugging them while Padmé closed the door.

“Snips! Hey! You didn’t even let me introduce you properly,” Anakin appeared from the kitchen doorway, wearing a Santa’s hat and an ugly red Christmas sweater with a reindeer in the middle. “Luke, Leia, please meet your unruly Aunt, Ahsoka.”

“Hi,” Luke mumbled into Ahsoka’s shoulder while Leia tried to wriggle free.

“You guys are too cute,” Ahsoka said, finally releasing them. “And I’m _really_ mad at your dad for holding out on me.”

“I’m their father, not you,” Anakin replied cheekily. “Besides, I didn’t want to spook them by you being the first person they meet out of our family.”

“We know Nana Shmi,” Leia pointed out. “She babysat us once when you were working.”

“Nana Shmi is the best person of this family and let’s just leave it at that,” Anakin chuckled. “Also, if you say something about the sweater, Santa won’t come,” he frowned. “I lost a bet to Ahsoka and now I have to wear this until after dinner,” he made a disgusted face.

“Ani! Bring them in!” Shmi scolded from the living room. “The hallways is not where we’re going to spend Christmas, come on!”

“Come on, you two,” Ahsoka grinned and ushered the twins inside the house, leaving Padmé and Anakin behind.

With the kids at a reasonable distance, he leaned down to kiss Padmé passionately. “I missed you,” he smiled, breaking their kiss.

“I missed you too. I _hate_ when we go long, but it’s not my call,” she sighed, giving him one more hug before removing her coat. “And I’m sorry that the twins are tracking snow through your house.”

“Ah, it will melt,” he waved her concerns off, kissing her one more time, and another, and another. “Ready for your first Christmas?” He asked, wrapping his arms around her waist, as a chorus of ‘wow’ and squeals of delight came from the living room. “We went all out. Our living room looks like it’s out of one of those cheesy, Christmas movies,” he chuckled.

“Well, we have all the ingredients. Overworked single mom, handsome guy from out of town, adorable kids, snowing outside,” she laughed. “All that’s missing is hot chocolate and carolers.”

“There’s actually hot chocolate in the living room. Mom just made it and there’s Christmas music in the background, I guess that works for the carolling part?” He suggested with a grin. “Ahsoka is right. We are a rom-com worthy of a Netflix marathon. We’re a hit, baby.”

“You’re unbelievable,” she laughed, slipping off her shoes. “But I want to see this in action. Lead the way.”

Anakin smiled and took her hand, leading her to the living room, perfectly decorated in a traditional Christmas theme. The tree was tall and big, decorated in red, silver and white with countless little lights. It stood near the lit fireplace, where six stockings, each with a name, were hung. The table in the far corner was set, a beautiful arrangement of poinsettias in the middle, surrounded by candles. The entire house smelled of gingerbread cookies and cinnamon. Luke and Leia each had a mug of steaming hot chocolate, as they sat in the loveseat with Ahsoka, chatting happily and Anakin guessed that with how they were pointing and the few dozens of presents under the tree, they were trying to find out which one of them had inside.

Shmi approached the couple.

“I did hot chocolate for the kids, but I have some eggnog for us, adults,” she said, offering them a mug each.

“Wow, I’m getting a lot of firsts tonight,” Padmé remarked, taking the one closer to her. “It smells great, thank you.”

“Tastes great too. Mom makes the best eggnog.” Anakin complimented. “She always adds the right amount of brandy to give it that flavour, but you would never tell it has alcohol. Well… until you get drunk, that is,” he looked at her sheepishly. “Happened one year. Never realized what was happening until it was too late.”

“There’s alcohol?” Padmé repeated, slowly setting her mug down on the nearest end table.

“Yes, but it’s not intense,” he said, frowning. “It’s fine, really, one mug won’t go to your head. Taste it. You’ll like it, I swear.”

“I’m sure I will, but you know what a lightweight I am,” Padmé protested while Shmi raised an eyebrow. “I don’t like drinking around the kids.

“I understand,” he sighed. “Maybe tomorrow? Ahsoka has been talking about taking them to make some snowmen in the morning so you and I can have the morning to ourselves.”

“After presents,” Ahsoka interjected. “Obviously.”

“There’s so many of them,” Leia gushed excitedly.

“I noticed,” Padmé said dryly. “Does your holiday have no limits, Mr. Skywalker?”

“Maybe to some, but not to me,” he said and looked guilty, even though she was aware he was doing it for her benefit. Had she let him, he would have showered the twins with five years worth of gifts already. “Not when it’s their first Christmas. Yours as well. And it’s _my_ first Christmas as a father. Let me have this,” he kissed her cheek sweetly.

“I’m not saying you can’t have it, I’m just worried about how you think you’re going to top it next year,” she laughed, kissing his cheek.

“I have a full year to plan it, you shouldn’t underestimate my imagination,” he chuckled. “I am certain of one thing. I still want to be here. With you. With them. I’m not missing another moment. The four of us together is all I can ask for.”

“Hmm.” She moved towards the kitchen. “Shmi, do you have any more of that hot chocolate? Possibly with peanut butter in it?”

Anakin pouted as she moved away, but the twins quickly grabbed his attention. Shmi, meanwhile, put her arm around Padmé. “I think I might have just the thing. Come with me,” she smiled, nodding towards the kitchen.

Padmé followed her, fussing with the hem of her shirt as she moved. “I know the peanut butter thing is silly, but I have this soft spot for it from when I was a kid.”

“We all have that silly thing we like, is nothing to be ashamed of. It does sound like a delicious combination,” Shmi smiled. “Sit. Let me take care of it. How was DC?”

“Exhausting. Every other time I’ve had a post-election winter, I’ve just stayed in the same office, but now we’re prepping to move me into my new office, there’s debating about new committees, and people are already talking about what’s going to happen in the next two years, given that it’s President Valorum’s last term.”

“Do you imagine yourself being President so soon after becoming a Senator?” Shmi asked, extending a steaming cup in her direction.

“Oh, goodness, no! I definitely don’t have the experience for it yet,” Padmé protested, accepting the mug and taking a sip. “But I do know that Senator Organa is planning to announce soon, and given how close we are, I might be on the shortlist for Vice President. Either way, I wouldn’t dream of such a thing without talking to Anakin and the kids about it first.”

“I am sure they will support you no matter what. Anakin, especially, since he knows that your career is so important to you. He would never raise an objection that would stop you from achieving your dreams.” Shmi poured herself a cup of hot chocolate as well. “You have this family’s full support. I can’t tell you how grateful I am you walked into his life and gave it a three hundred and sixty degree turn.”

“I mean, we’re talking more like a two-five-twenty if this thing happens,” Padmé sighed, taking another drink. “We’d have to consider new schools in DC, I don’t even know what would have to happen with Anakin’s work.”

“That is something for the both of you to discuss when the time comes,” Shmi pursed her lips. “Leaving is work behind might get tricky. It has been his whole life, from the moment he learned how to work a computer,” she rolled her eyes with a fond smile. “But I am sure you will find a middle ground.”

“We can only hope.” Padmé twisted her hair around one finger. “But for right now, I’m okay with focusing on tonight. Ahsoka’s quite an...energetic presence.”

“Oh, that one can give the twins a run for their money,” she replied with a smirk. “She has been eating candy canes since morning and has been hyped to know them and be an Aunt.”

“Really? I hadn’t noticed.” Padmé laughed. “So, how long do you guys usually stay up?”

“Ahsoka and Anakin usually stay up playing games. Last year it was Jenga and I swear, my heart just can’t take it,” Shmi laughed. “Never after midnight, though. The only time that we did pull an all-nighter, Anakin and Obi-Wan were in a fierce competition over a game of Risk. Since they are both sore losers, it was a very long night,” she grinned.

“What’s the family policy on Clue? Because the twins really like that one.”

“I think we might have it, yes, it will be a different game, thank God. If it was Monopoly… well, you haven’t really seen Anakin’s dark side until he plays that game and starts bleeding money,” Shmi shook her head. “I will go find it after dinner.”

“Do you need any help getting dinner ready?”

“Oh, no, I have everything prepared. Go join them. Enjoy your first Christmas.”

“Thanks,” Padmé smiled, taking her mug with her as she headed back into the living room, where the twins were examining presents as if they could somehow see through the wrapping. “You know,” she said. “I read somewhere that there’s a tradition of people getting one present to open on Christmas Eve before they go to bed for Santa.”

“Really?” Leia asked, eyes widening in delight.

“I like that tradition,” Ahsoka quipped.

“Can we do it, Daddy?” Luke asked.

“I don’t see why not,” Anakin grinned, ruffling his son’s hair. “All you have to do is think about the present you want to open tonight and we’ll do it after dinner.”

“Aww, I wanna do it now,” Leia complained.

“Me too,” their Aunt pouted.

“Snips, please, what are you? Five?” He raised his eyebrows, questioningly. “Well, Mommy, what do you say?” He turned to Padmé. “Now or after dinner?”

“If you want to get your mother,  and she’s okay with it, I’m okay with doing it now,” Padmé said.

“Yay!” The twins chorused and Ahsoka clapped happily.

“Start choosing the gifts, I’ll get my Mom,” he smiled and skipped over to the kitchen. “Mom, we’re opening one gift each before dinner, what do you say?”

“I suppose we have enough time to do that,” Shmi conceded, wiping her hands on her apron. “Any reason for the change in schedule?”

Anakin shrugged. “Padmé read it somewhere and the twins got excited. So did Ahsoka. Also, it’s just one gift to give them a little taste of what’s to come tomorrow morning. Couldn’t hurt.”

“No, I suppose not.” She took off the apron and followed him back to the living room where the twins had each claimed the biggest possible boxes with their name on it, Ahsoka was still hunting for one, and Padmé was sitting on the couch, holding a small gold-wrapped box in one hand, and her mug in the other.

“Is that for you or for me?” He pointed at the gold-wrapped box, sitting by her side and kissing her temple.

“For you, from me,” she answered with a smile. “But I think it can wait until the twins have had their fun.”

“Have you picked yours?” He raised and eyebrow, taking the box for himself.

“No, I figured I should let you pick for me, since I picked for you.”

The twins were eagerly clinging to their big presents, but at their mother’s words, they glanced at each other, before at their dad and finally at an inconspicuous little present that was carefully camouflaged between a few others. Ahsoka finally resurfaced from the pile, holding two boxes, one of which she handed to Shmi. “Everyone got something now?”

“Mommy doesn’t,” Leia said sheepishly.

“Yes, Daddy.” Luke affirmed. “Mommy doesn’t.”

The two were ready to burst and he could clearly see it. He’d had a whole thing planned for the following morning, all of them in their pajamas, surrounded by wrapping paper as he got down on one knee, but he could work with the current setting.

“Get it for me,” he told them with a wink.

Leia squealed and grabbed the bag, with Luke taking it out of her hands before handing it to Padmé with a innocent smile. “This is from Daddy, Mommy.”

“Oh, is it?” Padmé said with a smile, looking at Anakin. “So, who goes first?”

“The young ones,” he replied. “Have at it, kids,” Anakin said, nodding at the twins. The sound of ripping paper filled the room as they each tore through the wrapping to their gift. At the sight of the matching bike boxes, their eyes lit up.

“Cool!”

“I wish it weren’t snowing,” Leia grumbled, a little less easily pleased than Luke. “Then we could ride them now.”

“Oh, come on,” Padmé scolded. “I think I raised you better than that, what do you say?”

“Thank you, Daddy,” they chorused.

“You’re welcome,” Anakin beamed. “But they are right, it totally sucks it’s snowing and we can’t teach them how to ride a bike with no training wheels,” he sighed with an adorable little pout. “Who’s next? Ahsoka?”

Ahsoka tore open the wrappings on her gift, raising an eyebrow. “Why would you give me Monopoly when you know I hate it?”

“It’s the Harry Potter edition, Ahsoka, learn to love it.” Anakin waved her off. “See if _Sabine_ likes it.”

“You only hate it because Anakin always wins,” Shmi added. “Padmé, why don’t you go next, dear?”

“Yes, Mommy. Open yours!” Leia stood by her mother, doe eyes sparkling with excitement.

“Now, Mommy! Open it, open it!” Luke chanted, as he rocked back and forth on his heels.

“Okay, okay, calm down,” Padmé laughed, pulling at the drawstrings of the bag and turning it over. The black velvet box inside fell into her lap, and her eyes widened. “Anakin…”

“Open it,” he said softly, a beautiful smile gracing his lips as his eyes showed nothing but love and adoration for her.

Her thumb ran across the lid, and she pursed her lip for a moment before flipping it open. “Now you open yours,” she said, staring down at the ring as it glittered under the lights. Anakin couldn’t make out her expression thanks to her hair falling in her face.

The twins exchanged a worried glance with their father, who seemed confused. “Hmm, I can open it in a minute,” he muttered. “Can I make my gift official first?”

“Anakin, please, just open the box.” She was either laughing or crying, it wasn’t entirely clear. “I promise, it’ll make sense once you do.”

He stuttered and looked down at the gold-wrapped box in his lap. The twins frowned. “But…”

“Daddy! Just open it,” Leia urged in exasperation.

With a sigh, he meticulously started to unwrap the gift, with Ahsoka muttering an ‘ _are you joking?’_ muffled by a candy cane in her mouth. “Come on, you can go faster than that!” she complained.

“Don’t rush me,” he snapped back at her. Padmé giggled slightly. Finally, the box slipped from the wrapping to his hand and he shook it. He heard a muffled sound from inside, the sound of something rattling against another object. He frowned at her. “This better be worth my suffering.”

“Trust me,” Padmé requested softly.

With a sigh, and to everyone’s relief, he opened the lid and stared at the contents. He completely froze. His hand was middair holding the lid, eyes wide and shocked as he stared down at whatever was in the box. “What… wait… is this… what…”

Lying in the box was a pregnancy test with a window displaying the word POSITIVE, with wide silver band nestled next to it. The ring was decorated with bits of darker metal flecked with blue that gave it a circuit kind of look and a small white stone in the center. “I’ll say yes if you will,” Padmé said, looking up so that he could see she was grinning. “Ani?”

Bringing him out of his thoughts, he turned to look at her in awe. “You’re pregnant?” He whispered.

“That was not in the plan,” Leia whispered to Luke, frowning.

“Really? We’re having a baby?” He blinked away tears.

“I don’t like this,” Leia continued muttering to her brother, who shrugged.

“Yes,” Padmé said with a smile. “We made one the old-fashioned way. Now, are you going to give _me_ an answer?”

Anakin laughed. “I asked you first,” he shook his head.

“And I told you, I’ll say yes if you will.”

“Only you two could make proposing into a game of chicken,” Shmi sighed.

“Of course I’m saying yes,” he let the box drop to the couch between them, so he could lean and kiss her passionately. “Yes, absolutely yes.” Padmé laughed and used their closeness to sneak the ring onto his finger, then handed him the box with her own ring so that he could do the same for her, which he did, beaming with pride.

“Then you know it’s a yes from me too.”

“We’re doomed,” Luke pursed his lips and whispered to his sister. Leia nodded gravely.

“Are you kidding me?” Ahsoka whispered. “Anakin basically _owned_ me when we were kids, you’ll be fine. Besides, I thought you wanted them to get married.”

“The baby thing ruined it,” Leia seethed.

“Yeah, this baby is _natural_ and we’re not so much,” Luke pursed his lips.

“He’s going to love it more,” Leia sulked, quietly.

“Hey,” Padmé barked, turning to look at them. “Stop it, both of you. Neither of you could ever be replaced.”

“Come here,” Anakin coaxed more gently, knowing their lives had already been changed enough since their birthday and this was another big twist for them. For all of them. But they were still five. The twins hesitated, clutching their bikes like they were anchors. “Please,” he added and Ahsoka nudged them forward. Reluctantly, they shuffled over, sandwiching themselves between Anakin and Padmé.

“Why’d you have to make a baby?” Leia complained. “I don’t get it.”

“Yeah, we barely had time with you and now he’s coming and stealing you from us,” Luke folded his arms. “Did it have to be _now?_ ” He asked, upset.

Anakin sighed and turned to Padmé, searching for some guidance.

“Well,” Padmé shifted, really not comfortable with how much of a _talk_ they were having to give the twins. “It wasn’t intentional, we didn’t plan it the way I planned you. I mean, I didn’t plan for there to be two of you, but I was planning for a baby—”

“Send him away, then,” Leia said bluntly. “Or her. Whatever.”

“It doesn’t work like that, Leia,” Anakin said gently, tucking one strand of her hair behind her ear. “The baby won’t make me love you two any less.”

“So you say,” Leia scolded. “I don’t want it.”

“Neither do I. We want you to ourselves,” Luke nodded.

“The baby will still take some time to get here,” Anakin explained. “There is still a lot we can do together and we will do it. I love you both, and another baby won’t change that. We can have all sorts of fun together, I promise.”

“But—”

“Hey.”

“I’m not sharing our room,” Leia said. “It’s bad enough splitting with Luke.”

“Hey!” Padmé snapped her fingers with a huff. “There are still about thirty-five weeks before this baby comes out of me, assuming there’s only one of them. That is plenty of time for us to figure out living arrangements that everyone can like.”

“You could always just move in here,” Shmi suggested lightly as she casually opened the vegetarian cookbook that she’d been given. “It’s bigger than your apartment. And you’re no longer required to live in your old district.”

“Yeah, there’s five bedrooms here,” Ahsoka chirped. “I can live somewhere else, no problem.”

“The twins could each have their room, there is plenty of space left for a nursery and an office,” Anakin added. “It does sound like a perfect idea. Now more than ever.”

Padmé puffed her cheeks then exhaled. “I mean, it’ll mean figuring out moving, and we’ll have to talk with the school board so that we can see about the twins not having to change until the end of the year—”

“We will be living as a family and spending all the time we have together,” Anakin said. “So _no one_ worries about being left behind. I know it’s scary to see a new baby arrive and steal attention, but we both love you very much and that is never going to change, no matter how many babies there are besides you two. Being a big brother and a big sister will be awesome, you’ll see.”

“Does it have a warranty?” Leia asked suspiciously.

“No, sweetheart,” Anakin chuckled, kissing the top of her head. “I don’t believe so, or I would have used mine on that thing over there,” he nodded towards Ahsoka. “Had to get used to her… is not that bad, really. You get to be bossy. For the first few years, at least, until she learns how to bite...” Leia giggled.

“There’s a lot of work and exhaustion that comes with a baby,” Shmi added. “They can’t do anything by themselves, so she’ll be screaming and crying and making messes, and your parents will be grateful that you’re better behaved than her.”

“Or him,” Padmé added. “And then you get to laugh every time he pees when he’s not supposed to.”

“I didn’t do that!” Luke protested.

“I had a trash can full of blouses that says otherwise.”

Somehow, Anakin was looking forward to that. He loved the twins more than he could express and he knew that for the next seven months, they needed attention and reassurance. After all, he has been in their lives for seven months, he could understand they felt cheated.

“You’ll have him all to yourselves whenever your mom is in DC,” Ahsoka chirped, trying to be helpful. “Plenty of quality time.”

“True,” Anakin said. “Can we all agree to give the baby a chance?”

“Only if you love us more?” Luke tried with a beaming smile.

“I will love you all the same,” he shook his head, kissing each of them on their foreheads.

“And on that note, I think the ham is probably ready to come out of the oven,” Shmi said with a smile. “Don’t worry, Padmé, I prepared for you.”

“Alright, you two, help me clean this up so we can have dinner,” Ahsoka clapped and called the twins to start gathering the mess of wrapping paper, leaving the couple alone on the couch.

“That was dramatic,” he whispered, taking her head to kiss her ring finger. “It almost spiraled out of our control.”

“Welcome to every day for the rest of your life,” Padmé predicted with a chuckle. “Parenthood is nothing but dramatic attempts to prevent disasters. Are you sure you still want a ticket on this crazy train?”

“If it’s a one way ticket only, yes,” he pecked her lips. “I can understand they feel cheated, but I’ll just work twice as hard to make sure they know I love them, no matter what. Just like I love you and our new baby,” he placed a hand on her stomach lovingly.

“I love you all too.” She kissed his cheek. “Merry Christmas, Ani.”

* * *

“Babe, come take a look, does this look good to you?” Padmé angled her phone towards him.

“Is that our joint statement?” He asked taking her phone.

“Yeah, I’m trying to get it just right before we send it out.” She sighed, noticing the twins. “Kids, come on, pace yourselves,” she scolded. Leia loudly slurped the soda in her cup, and Luke stuffed another handful of marshmallows in his mouth.

“I think it’s perfect. We don’t owe anyone any other explanations,” he smiled, handing her the phone back.

“Great. Can you get the sugar away from them? I’m regretting saying they could stay up to midnight.”

“They’ll crash soon enough,” he snickered, knowing they were running on fumes. He already saw Luke’s head nearly falling twice. “Are we ready for the countdown?”

“Yes, and I feel like they’ll probably kill us if we let them sleep through it,” Padmé sighed.

“We already had a dramatic meltdown this season, let’s not have another one.”

“We’ll wake them when there are thirty seconds left. Sound good?”

“No, they’ll whine and when they fully wake up, it’s the new year. They’ll be cranky.”

“Full minute?”

“Thirty minutes before,” he negotiated. “To give them time to adjust and celebrate before tucking them in for the night.”

“Okay, fair enough,” Padmé sighed, looking back at her phone. There was a photo of the two of them, each holding a twin as they showed off their engagement rings, and below, the caption she was stressing over:

_Fate is a funny thing. Six years ago, it decided that this amazing guy would unknowingly give me the two greatest gifts of my life. This year, it decided that we should meet and fall in love, and next year, we’ll be hearing wedding bells!  Happy new year, and may fate bring you all as much happiness as this one brought us!_

“Padmé, stop reading it and post it. It’s the perfect caption and honestly, people have been whispering about me being your donor since we went public, no one is going to be too shocked,” Anakin said, watching as she frowned with concern. “Do you mention the baby?”

“Of course not!”

“Why not?” Anakin shrugged. “It won’t be long before we have to make a statement again.”

“Because I don’t want people thinking that’s _why_ we’re getting married. You were planning on proposing before you knew I was pregnant.”

“Hmm, you have a point. However, they are still going to comment that when we announce the baby. Does it really matter what people say, Padmé? Except the fact that Sabé is going to blame _me_ entirely for everything?” He smirked.

“Hmph,” Padmé rolled her eyes. “Can’t we let it be our private experience for as long as possible? I’m tiny, they’ll think I’m further along than I actually am when we finally do announce. Why not delay the inevitable while we can?”

“Alright, we won’t announce. You’re right, this is our private moment. I’m just… excited.”

“Aw, babe, I am too,” she leaned in so she could kiss his cheek. “It’s just that I like having you all to myself.”

“I know, but you have to share me with the twins and now you’re sharing me with a new baby,” he chuckled. “We should take a weekend for ourselves. You know, we never really had that time to date and be a normal couple, maybe we should try to take more time for us. It could be one of our resolutions.”

“Maybe,” she agreed. “I’d have to check the Senate schedule, but it’s doable. Could be a mini-honeymoon. Depending on when we set the date for the wedding. I don’t know about you, but I don’t need anything fancy.”

“We could do something familiar. Just us four, our closest family and friends. You have the final vote on the date. You have to decide if you want to marry pregnant or not,” he smiled.

“Might be cute to do it on Valentine’s Day.”

“It would and it would save me from making Valentine’s Day plans,” he chuckled. “I’m kidding, I’m kidding. I was already thinking about what I could do, but it could be a good date, yes. Do you think it’s possible to plan a wedding in such short notice?”

“As long as we keep it small, I think we can manage. All we really need is a room and an officiant,” she pointed out. “Right? We were going to end up with a faith-neutral ceremony regardless.”

“It won’t be _that_ simple. It can be small, but romantic.

“Everything you do is romantic.”

“Flattery will get you everywhere, Mrs. Skywalker,” he said as he leaned forward to kiss her.

“That’s why I do it, Mr. Amidala.” 


End file.
